Hoping someone in this group can lend some advice to me. My 2000 Ranger
Extended Cab 4x4 has been having some noise problems. I had the front wheel
hubs replaced, new brake rotors, new calipers, new brake pads, and new dust
shields. The front differential was taken out, and the truck was driven to
see if the noise was still there, and it was. It's like a rumble you would
get from riding on cupped tires. The only thing is, we thought that too,
and we switched wheels with my father's Explorer, and the noise is still
there, just a little quieter. Anyone have any suggestions on what to try
next or what to look for? We had the differential out and looked at the
spider gears, and they look like new. The truck only has 62,000 miles on
it. Any help will be greatly appreciated by myself and my mechanic who is
pulling his hair out, and has a spot worn in his scalp from scratching his
head.

Front end was aligned after the new wheel bearings and all the brake
components were installed. All is proper with the steering geometry. My
off-road tires were cupped, that's why we swapped them out to test run the
truck with a set of all season tires with smooth tread, to eliminate any
tread or cupped tire noise. Rumble is still there. Before he reinstalled
the wheel bearings and mounted the wheels, he let me listen to the shafts
that connect the front differential to the wheel bearings, and it was a
definite rumbling noise, and it was more pronounced on the passenger side.
As for the mechanic, he has been on the job working on cars trucks and big
rigs for 29 years. Pretty sure he knows what he's doing. Just the first
time I ever saw him and all the other guys in this garage stumped, and
that's about 15 guys. Any other suggestions?

 

Just him spinning the components with his hand? Also, how did it feel (assuming you gave it whirl yourself)?

Just off of what I know from your post, i'm thinking it sounds isolated. You eliminated the diff. and up to teh wheel bearings, which leaves the shafts as the next movable part . . . . you thinking what I'm thinking?

-Tylar

 

i had the same noise with my 2000 4x4 off road. tires were cupped. rotated tires front to back, and the noise is gone.

 

We checked the shaft seals and they were fine. It was driven around the building several times without any front differential or front shafts, and the noise was still there. Could it be somehow coming from midway up the driveline and be radiating into the front end? We rotated the the tires and swapped them out with different all season tread ones as well. When we turned the wheel hubs, the truck was elevated off the ground, and we did it with and without the tire/rims mounted, and the noise was there regardless.