I drove my truck 4 to 6 times yesterday. The last time I had to drive it I started going and when I turned, I automatically felt the steering was a little off. Started going and heard a strange noise front the left front. The only way to describe the noise is kinda like when you put a card in the spoke of a bicycle tire, the faster you go the louder it gets and more frequent it is. This noise though sounded like metal on metal. Finally about 1.8 miles of that, going 35 mph,I hear and feel a loud clunk from the front end and then noise goes completely away. Im afraid to drive it now, and Im planning on calling the dealership monday morning. Has anyone experinced this or now what I can expect? many thanks

 

Does your truck have 4 wheel drive? Sounds like your solenoid is trying to engage the hub on that side. Lots of posts in here if that is what it is.

 

Thanks for the info, it has manual 4 wheel drive. I stopped on the side of the road when that noise started happening and engaged 4hi and the noise went away briefly. Took it back out, started driving normal and it came back.

 

Your left hub has crapped out, or the solenoid is sticking. Still under warranty?

 

2nd that. you hub is trying to engage while you drive and is causing that noise. check around your hubs for a loose hose. maybe if your lucky there was no damage and the hose just came loose.

btw, in case you didn't know, the hubs are vacuum controlled. when you put it in 4x4, the vacuum is released and the hubs engage. when you go back to 4x2, a vacuum is applied that disengages your hubs. so if you had a leak or hose loose, you hub will be trying to engage itself

 

I drove the truck until the noise was unbearable. took it in today and let the mechanic hear that noise. He checked it and said a sensor in the front left hub went bad and they would have to replace the entire hub. thank god its still under warranty. This truck is only an 06 with 19,246 miles and ive used the 4 wheel drive very little. What could have caused it to go bad and what all does replacing the hub involve? Many thanks

 

I'm willing to bet that it's the IWE solenoid on the firewall as well. It probably ingested water and damaged the IWE also.

 

Alright.... Here is the same problem but I have Diagnosed it this far....

My left (driver side) IWE is stuck like it is engaged in 4 wheel drive. I have checked for vacumn leaks and the hub is hissing so I know that it is the vacumn controlled hub. Now the question is, is this a Do it yourself job or a dealer service job. I hope that I can replace it myself being that the truck is out of warrenty. I have replaced the Solonoid on the firewall and made sure that the vacumn lines are clear going to the hubs. Can I just replace the IWE module that fits on the end or do I have to replace the whole HUB assembly. I was told by the dealer that the Hub Assembly does not come with the IWE Lock assembly.

Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

GRNMSTR
Geneva, OH
'04 F150 XLT SCab 4x4

 

As far as I know, you have to get the whole hub and lock assembly come as one unit. Now, whether you can take the old one apart and replace things? I don't know.
Rich

 

I stopped in at a Ford Dealer and they had just the Intgrated Wheel Lock Assembly seperate from the entire Hub Assembly. I was told that there is not a complete kit that has both together. That is why I was asking if it was possible to intall just the Intgrated Assembly with out replacing the entire Hub. The Integrated Assembly is about $78 and the Hub Assembly is about $600. As far as I can tell you can not by individual pieces of the IWE Assembly to just replace Componants. From what I can tell the whole IWE assembly is mostly plastic anyways.