Yet another front end question...

[nailhead_sled]

Yeah I know it’s been asked a million times, and yes I’ve searched and found some good info, but my issue doesn’t seem to fit in one single previously addressed post…

Exploder in question is a ’98 XLS, OHV 6, AWD. 90,000 miles
The vehicle is a new (to me) purchase, when I test drove the X everything seemed fine, no abnormal clunks or groans etc. Upon purchase( and subsequent road safety inspection) it was determined the vehicle needed new rotors and pads to meet requirements. This work was done by the selling dealer and included in the selling price of the vehicle.
When I picked the truck up and drove it home I started to notice a slight ‘whooping’ noise coming from the drivers side front wheel, when the brakes are applied in light to medium pressure. The noise is a repetitive ‘whoop-whoop’ with a slight groan or creek when the vehicle comes to a full stop. I originally dismissed the issue as the new brake components seating/breaking in. However after a road trip on the weekend and four days of driving to work the noise has become both more frequent and much more noticeable…it now ‘whoops’ both when slowing down and for the first 2-300 yards when accelerating from a dead stop. I figured it was simply the caliper slide pins needing a good lube and was set to simply pull the wheel and have a look over the coming weekend. Today however on my trip to and from work I have noticed that in addition to the ‘whoop-whoop-whoop’ I have a nice ‘clunk’ (from the same wheel) when going over bumps at low speeds. So much for my slider pin theory….
Anybody have any ideas?

 

[Isles4evr]

I'm not too fimiliar with a 98, but it kind sounds like a wheel bearing. Does it change at all if you swerve the the truck from side to side? If it is a wheel bearing, it would go away when you swerved one way and get louder when you swerved the other.

Chris

 

[Rhett]

If the rotors are warped, or just slightly warped, it can cause that repetitive whoop noise as the rotor alternately contacts and goes away from the pad material.

 

[nailhead_sled]

Thanks for the input…
I would lean away from the warped rotor simply due to the reason they are less than a week old (although without measuring, it would be impossible to tell if they are out of round).
As for the ball joint thought, the noise neither increases or goes away when the wheel is turned…does this eliminate them as a possible cause?

 

[Isles4evr]

Ball joints wouldn't cause that, but with out the noise change it almost rules out the wheel bearings. It may be from the tires. Try rotating them and see what happens.

Chris

 

[nailhead_sled]

I’ll rotate them on the weekend.
I cant help but feel the ‘whooping’ and the ‘clunking’ are related…what other component failure would cause this?
Thanks again…

 

[Isles4evr]

Definitly rotate, and while your there shake your front tires up and down and side to side (checking ball joints and tie rods). When you have the wheel off take a look at the brakes and make sure the pads are waering evenly. And look at the swap bar and control are bushings (just see if the bushing is tearing or badly misshapen).

Hope this helps
Chris

 

[Ozonkiller]

If it's the noise that I'm thinking of, it could be the grease seals on the inner side of the rotors. According to a buddy of mine who works at a Ford dealership it's a common problem. Mine does it, only at slow (parking lot) speeds. Haven't done anything about it since I know what it is and have decided it's no biggie. I don't know about the clunking tho'. Does it make any noise when you bounce the front end up and down. I case you don't know, there is no way to grease anything on the front end (no Zerks). A better idea by Ford? I used the ole hypodermic needle on the grease gun trick to quiet down my groaning ball joints. Hope this helps.

 

[FourXFred]

i agree with isles4evr. as soon as i read whooping, i thought tires aswell. My mother has a 2001 ranger that does EXACTLY the same thing. it apparently needed a slight alignment, so the tires wore a litle bit unevenly. this caused a constant awful grinding, or whooping, noise from the front end, which got worse at slow speeds and braking. rotate, or get new tires.

oh, and isles4evr, the check is in the mail as of today. been a little short on funds lately.

 

[nailhead_sled]

OK, this morning I put her up on stands, checked the front wheels for play. I reefed so hard that she nearly fell off the stands and yet there is no play. So one would think this eliminates the ball joints. Next I pulled the wheels to rotate them and in the process pulled the calipers to have a look. Slider pins are well lubed, everything seems to move freely and is wearing evenly. Upon closer inspection of the drivers side lower b-joint I noticed a good amount of grease escaping from the upper portion, and that the lower threaded portion of the joint extends at least 1.5 inches down through the spindle, past the castle nut (to the extent that with the wheel installed there is less than 1/8 inch clearance between it and the wheel lip) Conversely the passenger side has 1.5 inches+ clearance and the threaded portion of the joint only extends 1/4 inch past the castle nut. Finished up by rotating the wheels and going for a cruise around the block. And yes the noise is still there.
I’m puzzled as to the difference is b-joint lengths, but this may just simply show that at least one has been changed before. So I’ll be putting my money on the b-joint as the culprit after all, everything else looks good and tight. I even tried bouncing the front end up and down to re-create the sound, with no luck.
Please excuse my ignorance when it comes to IFS setups, as all the other vehicles I own (if new enough even have IFS) are king-pin jobs, and much easier to diagnose.
Thanks for all of your input.

And yes I know this reads like one big run-on sentence…

 

[Opera House]

You can tug all you want, but noisy bearing hubs won't give any indication. I even pressed the bad one open and still couldn't see anything that would obviously make noise. Nothing I tried gave any indication. Finally gave up and just replaced the hub.

 

[nailhead_sled]

Well I decided to have another look at the ‘oddball’ ball joint, and after a few seconds with the pressure washer to remove all the junk, low and behold it has a top zerk fitting!
I can’t get my grease gun on it unfortunately, as I need a 45 deg tip…but at least now I can pump it full of lube and see what’s what.

I can't believe I didn't see the fitting earlier.

 

[Rhett]

That's nice that your ball joints actually HAVE zerk fittings! You are probably right, they may have been replaced before.