Roaring sound near front passenger area.

[lloyd67]

I have a 2001 sport trac. 2-wheel drive. She has about 150K on her. My problem: The front passenger area sounds like there is a bearing gone bad in the wheel. I pulled it all apart and repacked them (front and back) they looked good. What else could it be? The sound is always there and getting worse. Only does it when driving, sounds a bit worse when steering to the left. Could it be the front axle? I replaced the brake pads and checked the rotor. No issues there that I could tell. Thanks in advance for your help. P.S. first time poster.

 

[ncranchero]

Welcome to EF and the Sport Trac forums!

If your bearings are in good shape I'd be looking at tires. Swap the fronts to the back and see if the noise moves. A broken band in the tire will not usually be visible but can sure raise a ruckus ........... and be dangerous.

 

[tubaexplorer]

Maybe you snagged a lion...just sayin

 

[Reddawg]

Bearings....

I had a similar issue. Mine started sounding as if I had monster truck tires on it. Loud to the point of irritating. It turned out to be the front driver side wheel bearing. But like previous post said, it could be you have a bad tire or two...

 

[lloyd67]

I should have mentioned that I also had the tires rotated too. No change. Could it be the spindle?

 

[ncranchero]

Spindle, no. It can make no noise. Jack up the rear and put it on stands, start/put in D1 and see if you get the noise. If the front bearings are good FOR SURE then it has to be driveshaft or rear end noise. It's sometimes hard to pinpoint the source.

 

[caseyc]

My vote is on the front hub assembly. If I'm not mistaken the front hub assembly is supposed to be replaced as a whole if the bearings go out, Because they are a sealed unit. So if you cracked it open and put it back together, maybe it's time for a new one?

 

[ncranchero]

No, the 4x2 has replaceable bearings just like any other vehicle. The 4x4 is hub assy.

 

[tubaexplorer]

Lol assy?!?

 

[caseyc]

No, the 4x2 has replaceable bearings just like any other vehicle. The 4x4 is hub assy.

Ok, good to know.

 

[ncranchero]

assy = assembly

 

[lloyd67]

Thanks to everyones help. It was the drivers side bearings. Of course, the last thing I checked. I swear it sounded like it was coming from the passenger side. She is good to go now.

 

[caseyc]

Glad to hear you resolved the problem. It sounded exactly like the problem I just fixed a couple weeks ago. I have about 65k miles on my ST.