So I thought I had a bearing fail....

[Limited Ex]

Let me set the stage for this before I explain my situation:

IF YOU MANAGE TO READ ALL THIS, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE OF THESE

I have had 34s on my Explorer for awhile now. The rear sway bar has been gone for years, and up until about 3 weeks ago I was running brand new Bilstein 1500s in the front and some really OLD and worn out shocks (don't remember the brand. Yeah,that old) in the rear utilizing the Warrior shock relocation kit. Everything handled and felt great.

Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago, I get a smoking deal on some 35x12.50x15 Pro Comp ATs, and since it was 1 week before me and my buddies annual camping trip, I bought them and got them mounted. This is where it goes downhill.

On the drive home, my vehicle is wobbling. BAD. Bad enough that I exited the highway at the first ramp I came to and took the back roads home. Yeah I was scared bad. Given, I was carrying my old tires in the back, I never had any problem like this with my 34s and hauling way more stuff. So I attribute it to all the weight and the old shocks. Next day I order new Bilstein 1500s for the rear. Helps an alright amount, but the wobble is still there. However, once someone is riding with me everything is cool. I then figure that once I get loaded up for the camping trip, everything should be fine.

Skip ahead to the following Friday, get all loaded and heading down the highway, everything is cool. Up until I start to hear a grinding noise coming from the front pass. side wheel. Pull over and take a look, make the assumption the spindle nuts have backed off, and decide to push on to the next exit, which was not far. Arrive at the exit ramp, vehicle is trembling from the grinding at the wheel, and go to slow the vehicle down only to discover the brakes are gone. Pull off to the side of the road, thank God the ramp was an incline, get out and discover the wheel is smoking, hub is melting and brake fluid is EVERYWHERE.

Present day, I finally take everything apart, only to discover the spindle nuts are fine , the bearings are fine , the caliper piston gasket is roasted and the hub is questionable. I can't find anything apparantly wrong! My only surmization is that somehow it seems the hub wanted to engage going down the highway, but that does not explain the brake failure. I did notice once I got the wheel lifted, when I spun it, there was a ticking noise.

Its weird how all this happened after I got the 35s on. Could the wobbling have anything to do with the wheel problem?


Here's why all my brake fluid decided to quit working. But why?

In these, you can see the little protrusions in the bottom corner of the hub. Each one has a tad bit of its corner sheered off, the reason escapes me :fire:

 

[skoobydoobiedew]

beats me...

 

[Limited Ex]

The more and more I think about it, it appears like I was riding down the highway with the brake pedal pressed. That would explain the caliper roasting, which in turn may have generated enough heat to roast the hub. The grease in everything looks like it has been baked, and since I can't find any metal shavings in there, is it possibile it could just be brake problems?

 

[Rhett]

Sounds like your caliper decided to stick; and is it a coincidence that it happened right after you had the 35's mounted? I would think not...

Did you actually see them mount the 35's? Did they mess with the brakes at all?

 

[Dopler174]

I say get all the new parts that you need, put it all back together and See what happens. As far as your hubs go...looks like your gonna have to get some more warns! Either that of put the stock ones back on. I'll come look at it tomorrow before you go to work.

 

[Limited Ex]

My brother had asked if the emergency brake had been engaged, but I have always thought that engaged the rear brakes only, correct?

To answer your question Rhett, no I did not see them mount the tires, I was in the waiting room. The tire place I use I have always used and have never had a problem before. What is it they could have done to cause this?

The only parts that need replacing as far as I can tell is the caliper. Since I am right there anyhow, I am probably going to go ahead and throw some new pads on there. The disc itself looked fine, but I am going to take a closer look at it. I've got a buddy that works at a tire place, I may check and see how much he could get me a new one for.

 

[DeRocha]

My brother had asked if the emergency brake had been engaged, but I have always thought that engaged the rear brakes only, correct?

Yes... only the rear brakes are enaged by the E-brake.. It seams from reading your post that the caliper failed which caused it to overheat the rotor, spindle, and hub. How long after getting the tires put on did the grinding start? I would find it unlikely the shop would have screwed up the calipers, (since they shouldn't have even touched them). If they did screw them up then I would expect the calipers to freeze immiedietely and start grinding etc...

 

[Vanquish502]

A 35 inch tire is a hard tire to balance. Sounds almost like a tire or two isnt balanced properly.

 

[Rhett]

To answer your question Rhett, no I did not see them mount the tires, I was in the waiting room. The tire place I use I have always used and have never had a problem before. What is it they could have done to cause this?

Well as was said they should not have needed to touch your calipers at all. But you never know what they did, without having watched them I suppose.

It is possible that your caliper was about to go anyway, and it was just a coincidence...

And if it were me I would probably want to replace the bearings, seals, slide pins, in addition to the caliper and pads and hub. And I'd replace the calipers and pads on both sides, too. I'd get that rotor checked with a micro very well...it could be warped from the heat now. And I hope your spindle is ok.

 

[Limited Ex]

The grinding did not start until the 26th. We picked up my buddy from the airport, which was 1 hour away, and started back down the highway. Once we got driving, it was not long after that before things started going bad. Could the bad wobbling have anything to do with it?

I like the idea of the caliper just going by coincidence, that explains much, actually ALL, of what happened. And the bearing on the pass side I had replaced about a month ago. The one that came out was the stock one! Tomorrow I am going to pull the other side apart and inspect it. But it probably would not be a bad idea to just replace it all, especially if I am planning on attending the Crozet run!

One thing I did not mention, the traffic we were stuck in when the problems initally started was moving at a brisk 5 to 10 mph. So its not like I was trucking down the highway at 60+. I don't know if this could be taken into account for anything, but there it is

 

[DeRocha]

The grinding did not start until the 26th. We picked up my buddy from the airport, which was 1 hour away, and started back down the highway. Once we got driving, it was not long after that before things started going bad. Could the bad wobbling have anything to do with it?

I would think a wobbly rotor which should normally be parallel to the caliper could cause the caliper to get jammed/stuck in its bore which would have cause the overheating.. Obviouslyfinding out why the wheel loosened up and became wobbly is the main concern...

 

[Limited Ex]

I've got most everything back together. Today I am going to work on getting the drivers side caliper replaced. When I picked up my parts from NAPA, the guy told me the same thing happened on his Explorer a couple weeks ago, so that made me feel a little better. Once everything is back together, I am going to take it to my buddys shop and have them check the discs and see to it they're fine. When I got the caliper and everything bolted back up, I spun the disc and it moved smoothly. It didn't appear to be warped or anything. But, I am going to have to drive it a few days with the pass. side hub locked. When its free, it produces this ticking noise like the teeth are trying to engage the axle shaft. Anyone see a problem with driving it while only one side is engaged? Right now I can't find a replacement hub, but I did find some Mile Marker hubs at Summit for $120 here

Those might be my way out unless I can find a solitary hub!

 

[BMXunleashed]

well i would say the 35's put too much stress on the calipers .......BUT you have 34's on there so it doesnt make sense..... your truck wobbled even when you were just on the trottle on the highway or only under braking....


my dads old X had the brake pads come un seated going downhill once and made a TERRIBLE grinding noise so we had to Ebrake and 1st gear it for a ways down the hill....His silverado wobbled at highway speeds with worn shocks and it turned out one of his rotors was installed poorly when he got his brakes done and it wobbled without being on the brakes because it threw the balance off i guess


could have been something of that nature, like Rhett said....maybe they started touchin all your stuff for some reason while mountain the new wheels

 

[thewishkah]

I dont have the same issue but close with the ticking of the hub and sometimes it does catch the spindle and the truck jerks to that side, its kind of scary at highway speeds. With 1 wheel locked it will pull to that side I believe but I could be wrong.

The tire shop may have knocked the hub off while taking the rims off your truck, and then improperly put it back on with out lining it up? which caused the heat which caused the caliper piston seal to melt and then that was that? just a thought I dont know if thats possible or not though.

 

[Limited Ex]

Its all back together now. Got the brakes bled and they feel good, but I have yet to drive it. An indirect result of the brakes going bad, I managed to mangle my sway bar brackets which my buddy is going to fix at his work tomorrow. So once I get my front sway bar back together, I will be able to road test it and see if its all good.

 

[Papa]

Be very careful of mixing new and old tires even as set of front and rear and especially on a 4x4 due to the difference in diameter. Take a tape measure and check for yourself. It will not take much difference in diameter to pit one axel against the other. Yes this may not be the overall cause of your problem but it may be a contributing factor to the hub failing since all that torque has to go someplace and find a week link.

 

[Limited Ex]

Oh no never, when new tires go on, all of them get replaced
I am planning on swapping in some stock shackles to lower the rear end a bit, as it does sit higher than the front. Hopefully that will help due to the absence of the sway bar...

 

[zhanx]

get your junk fixed and come out on sunday caleb

 

[Limited Ex]

Actually I should have my vehicle back on the road tomorrow, but there is no way I could take off work. Reason being is I am already taking an entire week, Sunday to Sunday, off for a fishing trip in Canada. What fun eh?

 

[Limited Ex]

Drove it home today, and everything feels as it should Brakes are working as they did before, so I am a happy camper now. Thank goodness it was nothing more involved or $$ than it was.