Wierd noise, wierd clunk, HALP!!! what broke?

[Mustangman66]

So the other morning i had a flat tire (right rear) so i changed it out and thought nothing more of it

then tonight my explorer started doing something weird

While driving it would feel like their was something holding my truck back, this is at any speed... this is accompanied by a loud whine "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" sorta, and when coasting it would slow down jerkily, like a wuhh.... wuhh... wuhh... sorta thing... also a Clunk.... wuhhh... wuhhh... clunk wuhhh wuhhh clunk when accelerating

any ideas if this is related to my spare tire being almost new, and all other tires being balder then my fathers head?

or is it a CV joint? front universal joint? or god forbid the front differential?

HELP
~zac~

 

[EasyRhino]

I would start by looking at your emergency brake pads. These are bonded to the metal backing shoes and are known to fall apart on our Ex's (the bonding fails, leaving the pads loose inside the drum where they can do all kinds of weird stuff).

On the face of your description, I'm not thinking the U-joints or CV joints, or the differential.

 

[03 Explorer XLT]

It sounds like the auto 4x4 kicking in. It hates tires that are slightly different sizes.

 

[imp]

It sounds like the auto 4x4 kicking in. It hates tires that are slightly different sizes.

With nothing else having been done except a tire change, that is exactly what is happening. Drive it long enough with all that stress on the electronic clutch and you likely will have a nice repair facing you.......imp

 

[Mustangman66]

Oh forgot to mention, im driving a 2003 xlt with 95k miles

on my old explorer 03 i never had any problem running with diffrent size tires... popped one and replaced it with a new one... baldness tends to run in my tires (lol)

any chance it could be caused by the spare tire having a bent or warped rim?

i also dont think it was the 4x4... since it made the same noise in 4x4 auto or 4x4 high, on both snow covered and dry pavement...

Do u think changing a tire could be enough to knock a brake pad loose?

if it is the 4x4 wouldn't the brown wire mod keep it from engaging?

 

[BrianDye]

Did the "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" noise sound anything like this? Im thinking you could possibly have a pig in your Expo somewhere



...Sorry..after reading "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I had to post that video, its all that was going through my head :

 

[Mustangman66]

Did the "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" noise sound anything like this? Im thinking you could possibly have a pig in your Expo somewhere

Thank you so much... that was my problem....

no but seriously, its getting worse and quick... drove it to the gas station a lil while ago, its now constant, not random like before

could it be something with the steering? cus the steering felt VERY stiff when turning left straight and very loose when turning right

 

[03 Explorer XLT]

I'm still going with the auto 4x4. When I rotated my tires I got a real bad gear noise. I didn't have trouble steering, but it sounded like it was going to come apart. When I put the tires back where they were, all was fine. I know on mine the dealer I bought it from put 2 new tires on it before I got it.

Try checking your air pressure. If it's off enough, on mine at least, it seems to make a little difference.

 

[Mustangman66]

Could be the air pressure... ill use my new tire gauge i got for xmass to check them, but im sure their low...

did the gear noises go away when you switched to 4x4 high?

 

[03 Explorer XLT]

If the auto 4x4 engages, then it's in 4x4 high. If that's your problem switching it manually shouldn't change the way acts.

 

[waskly]

you need 5 new tires. get a fresh spare to match the running tires incase of a flat.

 

[03 Explorer XLT]

you need 5 new tires. get a fresh spare to match the running tires incase of a flat.

...and rotate all 5 regularly or you'll end up with 4 bald tires and 1 new.

 

[waskly]

...and rotate all 5 regularly or you'll end up with 4 bald tires and 1 new.

you know thats the one thing i dont do.

my lazy butt just refuses to lower that spare. since it also sets a tpms light. i just do 4 tire rotation and buy to match spare

but yeh great point!!!!!

 

[gingerbredman00]

I know in an awd, different size tires will do major damage.
So try this, stop driving it.
go get that tire replaced, or all of them.

 

[Mustangman66]

!!!!!Problem solved!!!!

i bought 4 new tires... that solved all my problems

one thing i noticed was the jerking when driving could be stopped by engaging 4x4, so my reasoning was that 4x4 auto was engaging and disengaging the front driveshaft about twice every five seconds... in 4x4 high this did not happen

as for the spare tire, im not sure if the new tire will fit under their since i went up from a r17/35/??? to a r17/55/??? but if it does, im going to buy a junkyard tire with about 50% tread on it, and use that as a spare

BTW: 3rd gen Ex's looks so much better with slightly bigger tires on it,

does anybody know if a /55/ tire will fit in the stock spare tire area?

Also fixed: Blown subwoofers replaced with newer subs

 

[BigRondo]

Glad you got it fixed.

 

[Ronin8002]

as for the spare tire, im not sure if the new tire will fit under their since i went up from a r17/35/??? to a r17/55/??? but if it does, im going to buy a junkyard tire with about 50% tread on it, and use that as a spare

BTW: 3rd gen Ex's looks so much better with slightly bigger tires on it,

does anybody know if a /55/ tire will fit in the stock spare tire area?

Also fixed: Blown subwoofers replaced with newer subs

I have a 265/75/16 tucked up in my spare tire area, so I am sure yours will fit fine.