Shaking front wheel; 2 WD

[rocket22]

The front end of my 2wd XLT explorer feels loose and I checked the front wheels and while parked you can shake the wheel a little and hear a clank. When driving and hit a bump you can feel a shimmy. Is this a bearing? On the highway it makes a thumping.

Brand new tires and alignment so it is not a flat spot or alignment.

 

[adivorcedsin]

Sounds to mee like its a ball joint issue. I had the same problem and turned out i needed to replace the upper control arm and ball joint on my X.

 

[rocket22]

I am going to check the ball joints,

What is the best way to test if the part needs to be replaced? Based on the noise I am getting it feels like some type of bushing wear. Why would the wheel vibrate at higher speeds and the tire feel like it has a flat spot?

 

[96eb96]

What is the best way to test if the part needs to be replaced? Based on the noise I am getting it feels like some type of bushing wear. Why would the wheel vibrate at higher speeds and the tire feel like it has a flat spot?

Set the parking brake, chock the rear wheel, Jack up the wheel by the lower control arm, support it with a jackstand (ok, just be safe) and shake the wheel at the 12 and 3 position, observe the ball joints for any movement.

Also make sure your wheel bearings are properly adjusted. I believe its an easy task on the 2wd.

 

[rocket22]

New bearings fixed the problem

2 new bearings and I just got the truck back from an alignment and all is good. The tie rod also needed adjustment. I cannot believe the improvement with the new wheel bearings. This is a hauler and work vehicle with 160K miles and it should easily make 200K.