Hello!
After a day in the rocks doing some very mild but rough 4x4, I now have an intermittent metallic moaning on the driver side. Like if I hit a bump or turn the wheel slightly it sounds like something is catching the rotating mass on the front and sort of grinding/howling briefly and then stops. I can feel it slow the wheel down.

The strange part is that if I lock in the hubs, it stops. I have the warn premium hub set. I took them apart and couldn't find any sign of damage or rubbing at all. So now I am fixing to take the wheel and brake of too look at the hub assembly.

Anyone have any ideas of what to look for? Nothing special happened, when I was in the woods, but it very clearly started then.

2000 Excursion, 33's, warn premium hubs, nothing else really related.

Thanks!

 

Do you have a IR thermometer? You could check the brakes to see if they are dragging. Are the tires wearing evenly? I'd suspect maybe wheel bearings also, have you replaced them yet? And the mileage on the truck would be helpful also

 

The truck has 248,800 miles on it. I don't. I don't have a thermometer. It is weird that the noise goes away when the hubs are locked. That's the kicker to me. I have not replaces the wheel bearings. The tires seem to be wearing normally. the front end has been checked for alignment and solidness several times in troubleshooting a different noise that was a loose shock bolt. Whoever owned this before me did some weird stuff.

 

Maybe wheel bearings, they could've gotten messed up while off roading and so its possible that while the hubs are free the tire has more play and the grinding starts but when locked in the tire is now connected to the axle therefore the tire cant move side to side as much.

This is just some thinking out loud with you but I'm sure someone will chime in soon and either say I'm wrong or I'm on to something. Best of luck to you.

Kenneth

 

i am thinking you got water/mud into the needle bearings. When you lock the hub, that pretty much takes the load off of them, hence it stopping then.

 

X2 for suspect needle bearings.

 

The locking hub bearing spins until you lock the hub. I'd pull the locking hub and inspect the bearing inside the unit. Spin it and feel if it catches or "grinches".

 

That all makes sense guys! thanks. I'll get it apart in the next few days and report back. If I recall, you can't re-grease the needle bearings? So I'll be needing to order a whole new hub assembly?

 

Double post. Stupid phone.

 

The needle bearing is available separately, but with nearly 250k miles on the original hub units, they're probably about due for replacement. Check them for play before you decide what to do. The labor is about the same since the hub unit has to come off to replace the needle bearing. New hub units come with new needle bearings installed, too.

 

Lloyd, maybe this helps.

Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Needle Bearing Maintenance Web Page

 

Thanks for all of the info. I am going to tear into it tomorrow.

Either my window regulator or motor on the passenger side died too. Luckily it is stuck up. I can hear it click when I press down, so I am thinking it is the regulator, but hard to say.

Looks like the truck will be apart in the driveway for a few days.

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks again for the help!

 

Let me know if you find anything, because I've had a very similar issue. I even have the same Warn premium (gold) hubs. I caught the source of noise when I put a remote wireless camera under the chassis and I saw that the front left halfshaft would spin after hitting those bumps, hence the noise. That was with unlocked hubs in 2WD mode. Here's my thread:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...eft-noise.html

The dealership couldn't find anything, the Warn hub and unit bearing looked good, and the problem hasn't resurfaced since they reassembled everything, and that was about a thousand miles ago. Maybe something was shaken loose or freed up in the process. If it happens again, I'll just replace the Warn hub and see if that makes a difference.

 

It was definitely the needle bearings. rusted solid. I'll be more careful to avoid deep water from now on.