Loud humming on passenger side at speed

[SGl31]

Vehicle is a 1995 Eddie Baur 6cyl 2wd.

Last week I noticed a loud humming or growling sound from the front passenger side of he truck when I get over about 30mph. It disappears when I apply the brakes and when I veer left. Gas mileage dropped from 18 to 15 and the truck felt like it was dragging. I put truck on stands and the passenger wheel had noticeable play at the 3 and 9 position. Driver side wheel did not. That and the sound going away when veering left made me think wheel bearing. When I pulled the spindle nut it was very loose. I spun it off by hand. I swapped the bearings out. I didn't replace the races as the ones in the rotor looked ok with no obvious damage. I put the hub back together and used a torque wrench to tighten the nut down. It went to about 85ft lbs but the rotor wouldn't spin so I backed off a 1/4 turn and reassembled everything. No more play in the wheel. The truck doesn't feel like its dragging any more but the sound is unchanged. The truck drives straight and doesn't pull to one side or the other. The sound still goes away if I turn the wheel left.

Not sure if it matters but the spindle nut is just a plain nut with no hole for the cotter pin. The chiltons book shows a castle nut.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[koda2000]

Sounds like bad wheel bearings on the passenger side. Fairly inexpensive repair ($20-$25 for parts) unless the spindle is now ruined. If you repair the passenger side it would be a good idea to do the driver's side as well.

Never reuse the old races when replacing wheel bearings. 85 foot pounds on a 2WD spindle nut? Holly crap! - way, way, way too tight. Basically your just want zero lash (little to no play) once you seat the bearings. We're talking inch pounds, not foot pounds. I just let the weight of my wrench drop from 1:00 position on the spindle nut after seating the bearings. If necessary to line up the hole for the cotter pin loosen rather than tighten the nut a tiny bit.

Reusing the old races and/or a ruined spindle may be your noise, but having tightened the new bearings down to 85 foot pounds may have also ruined the new bearings. The 4WD front axle nut is the one that gets torqued to high foot pounds, because it holds the hub assembly together.

 

[SWIGIN]

Unit bearing.

Koda is telling you how to do old school front bearings not unit bearings like you have.


EDIT....nevermind, I know nothing about 2wd.

 

[koda2000]

Unit bearing.

Koda is telling you how to do old school front bearings not unit bearings like you have.


EDIT....nevermind, I know nothing about 2wd.

Yes, the OP stated it was 2WD, no "unit bearings" not a hub assembly.