it's not the brakes.... WHAT IS IT?

[toddious]

so there was a light scratching coming from my drivers side wheel for about the past 5 days, which i thought was from the wear indicator on my brake pads.

yesterday, i went out to the car, and in reverse there was this nasty grinding/crunching sound from the drivers side wheel. i pulled back forward and didn't hear anything, put it in reverse again and the sound continued. I tried driving, and there was an intermittent grinding sound. I assumed it was brake related... however....

i got the wheel off today,and took the caliper off and the brake pads looked fine. nowhere near hitting the scratch metal. i cleaned everything, and greased the rails, and put it all back together. When i tried backing out again, you could hear a slight squeeking still, and then some more crunches. i drove it around the block, and the sounds continued. I'm not sure what to think. I have a buddy coming over later to look at it, but i thought someone might have an idea. thanks, todd.

 

[boominXplorer]

see if there is play in your CV's

 

[toddious]

how do i do that?

i'm not even sure what my CV's are.....

 

[toddious]

while talking to my dad, he mentioned it could be my wheel bearings. does this make sense? the sound is very intermittent, it will grind for a little bit, then i can drive a little ways, then it will start again. it seems like turning makes it a little worse. any ideas?

 

[toddious]

see if there is play in your CV's

could anyone elaborate on this? i don't want to start trying to replace my wheel bearings, and find out that cv joints were my issue. thanks, todd.

 

[stretch]

while talking to my dad, he mentioned it could be my wheel bearings. does this make sense? the sound is very intermittent, it will grind for a little bit, then i can drive a little ways, then it will start again. it seems like turning makes it a little worse. any ideas?

Those are exactly the sounds that my X was making right before I almost wrecked. My front wheels now sit like this l \ . My passenger wheel bearing and hub assembly grenaded on my while I was driving. Caused a scary situation when it dropped down and jerked me hard to the right. When I got out to inspect what happened I notice a crap load of bearings all over the ground and you could rock the tire side to side. As far as play in your CV's, see if you can move the axle around by hand while it's parked. Also, if the CV's are bad, you can sometimes feel parts move around when you squeeze the boot covering the joint. Hope you get it figured out.

 

[toddious]

i'm not even sure where the CV's are located, or what they do for that matter. a little help maybe? thanks, todd.

 

[toddious]

so is this from me doing TT?

i'm stuck right now unable to get the bolts off the caliper cage. i already broke one socket wrench, and almost broke another, so i'm letting them soak in PB right now.

what am i gonna need after i get the cage and rotor off to continue dissassembly? thanks, todd.

 

[TPLYNCH]

The CV joint is the part of the front axle covered by the black rubber boot that allows for the driveline to turn and flex at the same time. Think of it as a more flexible U-joint.

 

[bender]

Maybe an easy fix for you. Mine regularly (every few months) gets debris/rocks/rust chunks caught between the back of the rotor and the "shield" that protects it. I just blast it with the pressure washer and watch all the junk run out. just a thought before you tear into bigger things.

 

[Glacier991]

While yours in not a 1st generation, there is a full off brake job shown on the 1st Gen X in the useful threads section, with pictures. It will help give you SOME clues....

 

[Texplorer]

When one of my wheel bearings went bad I got a horrible grinding and sound from the wheel only at certain speeds also. But like stated earlier, it could be something as small as debris caught in the dust shield and back of rotor.

 

[toddious]

yeah i've read that over many times, and it helps somewhat, but mine is quite different. i think the problem is either the CV's or the wheel bearing/hub assembly.

I've broken 2 ratchets trying to get the bolts off the caliper cage, and i just got a breaker bar to finally try to remove them. whats my best indication for whether the wheel bearings are definately bad?

 

[toddious]

ok, so i finally removed the cage for the calipers.....

when i grab the inner wheel assembly (with the lugs on it) should it have much play? i was looking, and the seal is just about shot. i can physically grab the lugs and move the whole assembly a good 1/8" . would that be my bearings?

also, how do you remove the big nut in the center? i have the 1.25" socket, but how do i stop the entire assembly from spinning while trying to loosen the nut? thanks, todd.

edit: is this what i'm looking for?

 

[JDraper]

If you can move it side to side or in and out that much, it's SHOT!! Time for new hubs like the ones you linked to.

Easiest way to get the bolt off is put the wheel back on, set it down on the ground and use the weight of the vehicle to hold it while you break it loose. Once it's loose, jack the vehicle back up and take it out.

 

[toddious]

so that link is alright? i also asked ped5stang (who is parting a 1996 explorer 4x4) for the front wheel bearing, which he said he had. there is no way to get the wheel bearing without the complete hub assembly correct?

 

[Bill Kemp]

Hub/wheel bearing replacement: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1183804

 

[toddious]

haha, trust me , i've read it.....

 

[gijoecam]

so that link is alright? i also asked ped5stang (who is parting a 1996 explorer 4x4) for the front wheel bearing, which he said he had. there is no way to get the wheel bearing without the complete hub assembly correct?

Correct. The mounting flange is actually the outer race for both the inner and outer bearing.

-Joe