Done a little research but needing a little more information. I've got a 02 SD v10 4x4 with Warn hubs and 97k. Bought it a couple months ago and i've noticed a vibration coming from the front driver side. Symptoms are that of a bad wheel bearing; vibration that increases with speed and not RPM, seems to lessen on left handed turns (weight transfers from driver side to passenger side) and gets worse on right turns. Also the truck seems very twitchy and hard to keep straight on the highway.

Snowed the other day so I locked in my warns (just in case) and I instantly noticed the noise and vibration almost went away entirely except for on the freeway around 70+ mph. Also noticed it seems less "Twitchy" on the freeway. Mind you the hubs are locked in but still in 2wd. After doing a little bit of reading some were saying this is a sign of bad needle bearings and not the entire hub.

I haven't jacked up the tire and checked typical movement in a bad wheel bearing. I know my way around vehicles and 4x4's pretty well but just seeing if someone can help me.

Thanks guys!

 

Checking the wheel bearings would be #1 thing to do. My unit bearings went right at about 100k

 

Wheel bearings commonly (but not always) "moan" when making a low speed turn after running at highway speeds.


Might consider new hubs now if you do a lot of driving with the truck. I changed out ball joints on the driver's side at about 100,000 miles and then changed out the hub at 130,000. It was enough extra work and expense for the seals and O-rings that I wished I had done it all at once....

 

Sounds like you have to tear down the front suspension anyway, so I would hold off on buying any hard parts until you can start inspecting what you have. Your symptoms could be from the unit bearings, locking hubs, U- joint, or just worn bushings or ball joints.