Squealing coming from front end

[jurick]

Specs- 1997 Eddie Bauer, 4x4, 4.0SOHC, 90,000miles

Well today I was driving and then I started to hear this squeal coming from the front end. At first I thought no big deal but then it got so bad I couldn't even hear my radio.

So I drove back home and while driving home I noticed a very bad vibration coming from the front end when I was going 60mph and the noise kept getting worse. When I got home I went for a drive around my neiborhood and the news had magically stopped and then when I made a left turn it started again and got real loud, then it stopped when I backed up to turn around and then started doing it again(almost like it has to heat up or something has to shift a certain way for it to happen). Well when pulling into my driveway the noise turned into a clunking noise and then it was like a loud hiss almost like I had blown something(almost the same sound you get when you release the air from a air compressor). So I don't know WTF is going on. I now have the vehicle jacked up on jack stands in my garage and the passenger side brake components removed.

I have pretty much limited the noises location and I believe that it is coming from the passenger side front end somewhere. At first I thought that I had blown a hub but now I am swaying towards a differential problem.

Now if I understand correctly in the 97 the front axle is a live axle and turns all the time because I know that I have no hubs(automatic or manuel) unless they are located in the differential. This is what made me suspicious, it has an open differential so that when one side spins the other spins in the opposite direction? That is if I am correct on that please correct me if I am wrong. This is the problem if I spin one wheel the other will spin in the same direction for a couple turns then stop spinning which has made me suspect the front differential but I could be completely wrong. The front driveshaft still does spin when I turn one wheel even if the other wheel isn't spinning.

So I cannot drive this as of now and this is my only vehicle so any advice on what this could be would help. I also forgot to add the noise only occures when the vehicle is moving and I also have it in 2wd all the time(Brown-Wire Mod). So no power is going to the front end at all.

Please help

Justin

 

[JohnJ]

If you hadn't said you've already got the brakes off I'd ask you to check and see if a caliper bolt fell out. Presumably you would have noticed that.

Does your hub bearing feel like it has any play in it?

Are there any rub marks on the brake rotor, tire, or wheel rim?

 

[jurick]

None of the bolts where missing from any of the brake components(I just put new brakes on a couple hundred miles ago).

The hub doesn't feel like it has play in it but I am taking that off today to inspect the hub and also the cv joint which I think has a little more play in it than it should.

There are no signs that any rubbing has occurred but I will look again when I go and work on it.

 

[jurick]

Well today I decided to remove the whole entire front drivetrain.

I removed the hubs, cv axles, all brake components and finally the front differential. The front differential looks to be perfectly fine which I origally thought was the issue but that is not it. I am going to take it into work tommorrow and clean it in the parts cleaner so I have a clean differential.

The problem may be the drivers side cv axle, it was binding pretty bad. The hub on that side also had a lot of grease coming out of it.

I am planning on maybe replacing both hubs and both cvs. Which would definetly solve the problem.

My question is, should I replace anything else while I have it all apart? It has all new brake components and new upper control arms. Should I replace any of the bushing or just leave it?

Thanks

Justin

 

[JohnJ]

How I wish I had money to shotgun fix things in the manner you do it!

 

[jurick]

The thing is that I don't have that much money I just want to make sure that this problem doesn't come back.

 

[JohnJ]

You definitely want to torque the hub nut correctly and get a wheel alignment after you fix it then.

 

[jurick]

You definitely want to torque the hub nut correctly and get a wheel alignment after you fix it then.

Yea that hub nut will be torqued to spec and I am finally going to get an allignment, I haven't gotten one since I did my TT.

 

[dynamite196]

how are your ball joints?? might as well do them while it's all apart if they haven't been done in a while that way you'll be set with the front for a longggggg time

 

[jurick]

how are your ball joints?? might as well do them while it's all apart if they haven't been done in a while that way you'll be set with the front for a longggggg time

I actually believe that the ball joints are fine they look fairly new. I have owned the explorer for about 10,000 miles and do not know what was done on it before I got it but it looks like it was pretty well maintained.

 

[jurick]

Reassembled

Well I got the whole thing reassembled exept that the hub nut would not go back on all of the way and I had to go pick up a deep socket for that. Thats the last part that needs to be tightened though.

So know I have basicly a whole entire new front drivetrain. I guess I won't have to worry about that for a while. I will drop it tommorrow and see if the problem is still there I hope it isn't.