Okay so I have a 1993 F350, I know its not in the powerstroke era, but I believe the hub is the same and I believe more people are in the forum. So I just bought this truck with a bad transmission and had it replaced. It seemed fine when I test drove it after the trans was fixed. I put it on my trailer and towed it home. Note that I placed the truck is 4x4 low to drive it on the trailer. Then when I was taking it off the trailer it seemed like it wasn't rolling as smooth as it should. I took it out of 4wd. I drove it down the street and it seemed like it had some extra resistance, noise and vibration coming from the front end. I cannot say for sure if it was doing it before I placed it on the trailer, but I don't think is was. So when the truck is at idle there seemed to be some extra noise/vibration, then under mild to moderate acceleration the problem completely goes away. Then as my speed levels off it comes back and I can feel the vibration a little in the floor boards. I took it home and pulled the hubs and they couldn't look any better. I drove the truck with the auto hubs removed and there was no difference. I also drove the truck in 4wd with the hubs in and still the same problem. I jacked the truck up and spun the tire around and while they seem to have maybe a little extra resistance than I would have expected, they had no play at all. I also tried to shake the universal joint going into the hub and it had a small amount of play, but nothing that I would think was too out of the ordinary. The only thing I could find that was out of place was the sound coming from the front passenger hub. If I spun the drive shaft by hand, only the drivers side axle shaft would spin and it made no noise. When I held the drivers side universal and spun the drive shaft, the passenger axle shaft would move and made a little noise and didn't seem completely smooth. I've never messed with this style hub so I'm looking for advise. I'm thinking its the needle bearing on that side, but this is my first and only experience with this set up. Any help would be appreciated.

 

So you're saying the truck does it at an idle, like sitting still? And then the sound goes away when you are under acceleration? That really sounds liek a flexplate (automatic transmission) or flywheel (Manual) issue to me. That is exactly the way a cracked flex plate will act when it is getting ready to let go...

If it were mine, and it were doing that while idling and sitting still, I would pull the inspection cover off the bottom of the trans and take a good look see. Try spinning the engine over by the teeth in the flexplate with a big screwdriver of a small pry bar and wiggle the flexplate around a bit. I'm wondering if they might not have gotten the main bolts tight or something.

Oh, and welcome to the best automotive forum around!

 

I took the inspection plate off and rotated the flex plate a little. Nothing looked out of place.

 

Just to confirm, are you saying it does this sitting still? That really tells us where we need to start.

 

So I have a little more information now. It does have some vibration at idle, but not much. If go very slowly and hold the brake a little I will get a good bit of noise and vibration. At certain speeds and if I hold the break at higher speeds I get a ton of vibration. I also noticed that the ends of the teeth of the flexplate had significant wear. The were worn on the side of the gear facing the engine and on the face of the tooth that is not contacted by the starter. If you would like to talk me through this, my number is 910-791-7054, name is Robert.

 

One more thing the flexplate seemed to need about 0.10" of clearance on each side because of wobble or bend or play.

 

One more thing. If I got the truck up to speed and then just turned it off and coasted, there is no noise or vibration at all. That would make me believe its not the needle bearings and the fact that it seems to be load dependent.

 

Is this truck an auto or a manual?