Bad wheel bearings???
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Newport Beach
Bad wheel bearings???
How can you tell when your wheel bearings are going out?
I found that shaking the rear tires side to side has a surprising amount of play, that I have never noticed before. I also swear that I have heard a squeal back there a time or two when starting out cold.
What are bad bearing symptoms???
'01 F250 4x4 with 35s
I found that shaking the rear tires side to side has a surprising amount of play, that I have never noticed before. I also swear that I have heard a squeal back there a time or two when starting out cold.
What are bad bearing symptoms???
'01 F250 4x4 with 35s
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Joined: Mar 2001
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From: So Cal
Hmmm the wheel moving side to side is not good. Could be something as easy as loose lug nuts or bad bearings. Snug up the lugs and if the wheel still moves, then you have a problem.
There are many potential symtpoms of a bad bearing and I have not seem one more than a couple times so I am no expert...
I have heard the classic "Wheel Bearing Howl", this is a kind of rythmic metallic whine from the wheel area. It changes with speed and is not affected by applying the brakes, it might hange when you turn. BTW applying brakes may point to the problem originating in the brakes rather than the bearings, if the noise goes away it may be the brakes.
On a really bad bearing you can kind of hear the crunchy grind sound the wheel will make as it turns, especially if you jack it up and turn by hand.
You might notice leakage of oil or grease from the back of the wheel, this indicates that the seal is bad and maybe the bearings too.
Your truck is new enough that it shouldn't have this problem and it may be under warranty.
Good Luck, hope someone with more experience helps.
Jim Henderson
There are many potential symtpoms of a bad bearing and I have not seem one more than a couple times so I am no expert...
I have heard the classic "Wheel Bearing Howl", this is a kind of rythmic metallic whine from the wheel area. It changes with speed and is not affected by applying the brakes, it might hange when you turn. BTW applying brakes may point to the problem originating in the brakes rather than the bearings, if the noise goes away it may be the brakes.
On a really bad bearing you can kind of hear the crunchy grind sound the wheel will make as it turns, especially if you jack it up and turn by hand.
You might notice leakage of oil or grease from the back of the wheel, this indicates that the seal is bad and maybe the bearings too.
Your truck is new enough that it shouldn't have this problem and it may be under warranty.
Good Luck, hope someone with more experience helps.
Jim Henderson
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Joined: May 2003
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Your axle is a full floating axle, so your bearings are preloaded, much like your fronts, with a nut. You say it goes in and out, does it have any side to side movement - you know, wiggle? You might have a loose axle nut. I would be surprised if both sides had problems - you said both are like that - so it may be normal. If there is a bearing going or a loose nut you don't want to ignore it, obviously. If you have a Chilton's manual they go through the procedure regarding these axles and they really aren't that difficult to do yourself.
Hope this was of some help.
Hope this was of some help.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 165
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From: Illinois
I would bet its your ball joints, I had 2 bad ones at 50,000 miles on my SD PSD. Diesels are especially hard on ball joints because of the added weight. Most shops are going to tell you to do all of them at once and dont be surprised if the estimate is going to be 500+ because they will also need to realign the truck while it is in there. It is possible to just have the bad ones done if you have a reputable, honest shop that will actually tell you which are bad and replace just those. Seems the uppers are the troublesome ones. Perhaps if just your top ones are bad you could have them replaced and save probably 200 bucks. I would look into having ball joints with grease fittings on them installed so you can lubricate them and maybe forestall this Ford Curse. In my book, dont fix it if it isnt broke, so if only the uppers are bad, get them done and worry about the bottom ones if and when they go. They might last another 100,000 you never know!
