Maybe ya'll could shed some light on this for me. My friend has an 03 F-250, ext cab, long box, 4x4, 7.3 with the auto trans. He has a 2" Procomp leveling kit with 305/75-16 AT tires. We heard a slight grinding noise coming from what appeared to be the front, left wheel while pulling my skidsteer. Sounded like he had let his brake pads where down to the rotor. When we got back to my shop we jacked the truck up and removed the wheels and all the brake components were in great shape. Very little wear, etc. Put the wheels back on and check the front end for play but it does not have any. We are both very mechanically inclined and know how to check for worn bearings, ball joints, etc... A few months back he had his lockouts reworked because he had a vaccum leak and couldn't get his front axle to engage. Could this be any connection to the noise we are hearing? I am assuming that it is most likely a bearing noise but if that were the case why isn't there any play in the wheel? I have read that these Superduties have wheel bearing problems but they are still new to me. I still have an 88 IDI so as far as his 03, its a new learning curve.

Thanks in advance guys.
Troy

 

I have a 99 SD and am having the same type of noise. It's coming from the left front. Can be heard especially when the truck turns. I believe it is the Hub Bearing assy. I have manual 4x4 hubs and keep them locked in all winter.
I don't hear the nosie from the right side. I've been quoted $335.00 for a hub assy + shipping. Did not include labor. I've been putting it off because of the cost. If anyone has more info, pass it along....Thanks in advance..

 

Check to see if the front hubs are locked. Not by checking the position of the hub lock, but by trying to turn the front driveshafts by hand. I suspect that the front end is locked and what you are hearing is the needle bearings on the outside of the hub making contact with the front shaft under certain loads (maybe louder when cornering possibly). I would recommend pulling the hub and servicing the needle bearing for $11 and a couple hours labor, if he is not sure the last time it was done. I bet the shop just replaced the yellow O ring and threw everything back together?

It could be the actual hubs, but you can check them out when you pull them to replace the needle bearings.

 

Last summer, while travelling to Minnesota; my 2000 F-250 SD 4x4 V10 started having a grinding noise from the front right. It progressively got worse and sounded like metal was grinding. I jacked up the truck and found the right front wheel was very loose and could be easily shaken up and down. Had to go to a NAPA shop on the road and buy a new wheel hub bearing assy. Cost was around $325.00. Replaced it on the side of the road in about 1.5 hours and was back on the way. Now I am having the same problem with the left front. Working on it today.

 

Sorry I haven't posted on this in a while but time has been a little short. We have checked the front end and found that the axle does indeed spin free so that eliminates the hubs being locked in. Since then we aquired a high pitch squeel out of the front end. This noise was only present after 20mph and after about 6 or 7 miles it just about went away. Now the noise is pretty much gone and so is this grinding noise. I will say as of now we are rather stumped. Does someone have any information as to how the 4x4 system on these trucks is put together. I have always been under the impression that the hub engagement is controled by vaccum and the lockouts that are on the hub control a differental lock. Is this true or have we been misinformed? If these lockouts control a diff lock, wouldn't installing aftermarket hubs and disconnecting the vaccuum lines eliminate this option? Like I stated before, this is a friends truck and I am not up to speed on the newer trucks yet.

Thank you again.

Troy

 

I've had the same problem as bigblu. Put truck in 4wd, had loud squeal from the left front. Took it out of 4wd continued onto the highway. The noise went away after 5-10 miles and no problem since until the other day and had a similar situation. Drove 400-500 miles in between instances. I should tear into it and check the bearings, just don't have time this week. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

 

lockouts do not control a differential lock. just make shifting into 4X4 faster since there is no wait time on the hubs locking via vacum. as for the other can't help on that. lol

 

I still would check that bearing out...Alot of times...due to the alignment being off. the bearing will go bad. Also the controll arm/steering rod end goes out..and and makes noise also, and will help wreck other front end parts.

just my 2cents

 

This might sound really simple, but I had a pretty bad grinding in mine a few years back and it was very hard to find. It was coming from the front as well. What it turned out to be was the break pad clips on the top and bottom of the pads, not the outer spread clip, were sucked into the face of the rotor/pad surface. I would have sworn that the bearings were bad but it turned out to be a simple fix. Only thing was you can't but the clips from a general parts store, only from Ford with thier brake pads. They come in a set for about $120.

My question is, if they sell them with thier pads, then they know that they are a problem. Why don't they sell them seperate as a service part?
Now, I'm not saying that is your problem, just something cheap to check first.
Good luck.
Jim

 

jff99

Are you talking about these?




bigblu78

It could be the hubs themselves. Ford decsribes it as a ratcheting sound in one of their TSB's, but I think it sounds more like a whine. At least it did on my '01 before I took them out and serviced them. It sounds like he's in need of routine maintenance on his front end. Check out Guzzle's web page for some great info on it:

http://guzzle.rbmicro.com/nblube.html

Also check out the TSB's on the front hubs.


Good luck,

Austin

 

Well..uh..yes....

in my own defence, because I'm I had not heard of this great site yet. Had I known, I might not have been so... taken...
Oh well, live and learn. I can say that I have learned at least one thing new today so it isn't a wasted day!!
But anyway, the grinding noise that it made did happen while turning and stopping also. I didn't notice it at first but those little clips make a huge noise.
Jim