Noise from front right wheel (not wheel bearing?)

[Crim]

Well I tried installing the inner hub night significantly looser then before, same noise. Then I tried tightening the inner hub nut significantly tighter, same thing. I went out and bought the other type of bearing packer (the one with the cup you push the bearing into as well as a different type of bearing grease. Repacked all of the bearings, reinstalled, same noise. I'm starting to think its got to be tire noise. Odd that I don't recall ever hearing it before, and I've swapped tires side to side w/o any difference in sound.

*shrugs* who knows at this point.

 

[92exp4x4]

Did you ever try driving the truck with the hubs removed? Unless there is a problem in the transfer case, you will know for sure that its in the bearings/hub not the front drive axle. At this point you may want to swap the tires front to back and see what happens. Do you have any friends you could trade wheels and tires with for testing? Or put the spare on, replacing one wheel at a time.

I would start looking in other places at this point. Sounds and vibration can travel, epecially in metal.

 

[firman]

crim, if you find the answar i hope you post. i too have the same problem, does your noise get worse on a left corner and go away on a right turn, i have the same noise and have done about the same thing as you with no luck. every other vehicle of mine that had this noise wheel bearing took care of it but i am at a loss also.

 

[firman]

also, i drove this exp. for years with no noise, then the noise showed up. am at a loss

 

[Tony H]

crim, if you find the answar i hope you post. i too have the same problem, does your noise get worse on a left corner and go away on a right turn, i have the same noise and have done about the same thing as you with no luck. every other vehicle of mine that had this noise wheel bearing took care of it but i am at a loss also.

Did you change the Races in the hub when you did the bearings??

 

[firman]

yep races too

 

[strutz87]

I have similar problem. replaced inner and outer bearing and it did not help. the noise sounds exactly like a bad bearing on the front driver side. i have no idea any help would be great. noise is a rubbiong or grinding and start at about 20 and changes pitch with higher speed. it also gets louder when swerving left to right. wheel has no play. no sound when i spin the hub with the caliper pulled off. any ideas?
??

 

[strutz87]

I have manual hubs so i dont think they are the issue

 

[strutz87]

o have also tried rotating tire with no success

 

[firman]

yes tire rotation, took it all apart again put back together, i have changed many a wheel bearing this one has all the whine of a bad wheel bearing but new ones did not fix it. i may get some new bearings and install maybe the bearings i put in last yr. was bad, at this point thats the only thing i can think of.

 

[strutz87]

we are definately in the same boat here someone plz help i have put in 3 sets the sound is definately coming from from driver side. i am real frusterated

 

[92exp4x4]

What else is loose/worn in the front end? Just a far out guess but could worn parts transmit harmonic frequencies different than good ones? Very far out guess I know but stranger things have happened. What else rotates in the front of the truck? Engine parts, axles, trans/drivetrain noises... these can all be transfered by vibrating metal parts. Its a divide and conquer situation, and a very hard way to diagnose a car. Because now that the logical things have been ruled out(bearings etc.), now you have to think outside the box.

I'm sorry guys that I cannot be more helpful in this situation, but it makes it hard not being there in person.

 

[rileyrs]

can you guys ever get all 4 wheels off the ground, and put it in 4x4, then run it to see if the noise occurs only with the weight of the vehicle on, or not.

 

[mr2fix2it]

ok one stupid thing that nobody has looked at how about a frozen ujoint on that wheel is it still smoking or is it just a noise if its only a noise maybe ujoint froze up i have seen multiple problems caused by this to check remove tie rod end and rotate wheel on each joint end and try to move wheel left to right if its frozen it will not movebe shure to try on both parts of joint.

 

[rileyrs]

the u joints on first gens dont spin when the hubs are unlocked.

 

[Crim]

I went to a junkyard and bought a new spindle in case mine was warped somehow, however it made no difference. After disassembling this front corner well over 30 times, I finally gave up. I took it into a shop, so we'll see what they tell me.

 

[kelvin37]

i would say put the car up on 4 jack stands and run it that way in 4x4 and see what you get. i did this cause i heard a clicking noise but could never find it. i found it when i put in on all 4 stands. try that.

 

[kelvin37]

i have new info for your problem. your brake master cylinder might have gotten something into it and gone down and clogged that front right brake line. thus causing it to not release the fluid from the caliper, but it can still apply the brakes because your foot has greater pressure. i would clean that line. good luck

 

[Crim]

The thing is, if I drive it around, come home, jack it up, I can free spin the wheel. There is very minimal drag on the brakes, but no more then any other car I've ever worked on. I'd imagine they brakes would have to be dragging quite a bit for that to the cause? or no?

The shop called and said the bearings looked fine, and then called back later and said they wanted to replace them. So hopefully that will fix it, but I've already done that twice myself *shrugs*

 

[kelvin37]

when you get home and jack it up have the brakes faded by then?