I have a 95 Explorer there is a vibration noise coming from the front central/left side of the truck.
I have been told that it might be the fron hub bearings or the front differential
or the front shaft locking mechanism.
I have opened up the shaft locking mech. and it is fine.
I have checked the brakes, rotor, removed the sealed frong hub bearing(sealed unit) it has no play and revolves fine.
I used a greas gun and repacked the bearings through the ABS sensor hole, the bearing spins like a brand new on(I compared it)but didnt help any, but like I said the bearing seemed fine.
My last resort is to remove the fron diff. and replece rebuild it, A tech. told me that that was the problem seeing as the vibration noise stops when you make right handed circles ( we tried it in a parking lot) he said it was the bearings in the diff.
Does this sound reasonable?, this is not a fix that is in a Chilton manual, I was told it is hard to rebuild one? Where can I get the info from to rebuild it?, And me not being a full time mechanic should I try this? I am very compitent, last year I diassembled and reassemble the upper half of the motor due to bad head gasket, it was simple with a maunual. but the diff. rebuild info isnt in there. HELP ASAP the Deer hunt is soon, need a 4WD.

 

What about CV joints on the axle half shaft?

 

I havent looked at that ,the only experience Ive had with CVs is popping. can they make a vibration? One that stops on the left side when making right hand turns?
I thought about checking them but didnt think this could be it? Im a rookie.

 

Not trying to sound simplistic, but have you checked the Tire. Rotate it to the back, could be a cupped tire causing it.

Here is the Deal with the right turn test. If you make a right hand turn, the right front tire turns a tighter circle than the left front tire. This means that the left front tire travels a greater distance, and turns faster than the right. The whole reason you need a differential in the first place. I think the Mechanic however is guessing on this test, because everything on the Right side turns slower in a right turn, the axle, the bearings, the CV, and the output shaft on the Differential. This slower rotation would make the problem a lot less noticeable no matter what it is.

Differentials are not that hard to rebuild, the problem is they have very small tollerances for alignment and spacing. I have done one on a classic car, but I simply swapped out the entire gear package from another rear end. It would depend on the circumstnaces, but I am not sure I would rebuild one myself on a newer (90 or later) vehicle.

David

 

I checked the CV's they are fine, I will swap the tires, but the sound is coming from the left of the vehicle so on a right handed turn the left would rotate the most causing
it to sound the same or worse, but its the opposite.the left is quiet on a right turn.

I understand the tolerances are tight, I just dont know whats involved or what specialty tools I would need.my brother-inlaw is a tech. Hes just out of school a year though from Phoenix, he had the ford fac. semester and he still says he wouldnt try it himself, wich is why I want to know how difficult it is and there I can get the technical info on the procedures and specs. I only have 1.5 weeks.

 

hello i'm new to this site