Hello all,

2003 F150 4.6L 4wd 95K

Recently, my gas mileage went down to 260 miles per tank. That is way low. I've been having front end noise while driving and discovered I needed a new drivers side wheel hub. I replaced my wheel hub and am now getting 360 miles per tank (wow, quite an improvement).

However, I have made the observation that my front end just sounds loud, sort of like my tires are making more noise. It's definitely driving noise, meaning the faster I go, the louder it is, I don't hear it while stopped. My wife thinks it's just tire noise...but I don't think it should be this loud. It's not obnoxious, it's just loud and doesn't sound right. The wheel that used to have the bad hub does seem to have lower tread than the other wheel, so is it possible this noise is due to the tires not being the exact same diameter? The difference isn't that much, plus I'm not using 4 wheel drive, so should it even matter? Could the noise be coming from needing alignment? Or could it be something else all together?

As a side note 1: It seems to not be so bad when I am driving fast, like 70+ mph.

As a side note 2: I broke 2 sockets tightening the 3 wheel hub bolts (manual says 100 - 150 pounds). I was able to get 2 of them to spec, but the third I just got "tight" without being able to measure it. I'll get it tightened next time my tires are off.

Thanks,
Bunggo

 

I checked the tread on the tires, and the fronts are actually pretty close. The rear tires are pretty much brand new tho, so there is a lot more tread. Would that matter?

 

Its not 'How much tread is left' but more a matter of tread pattern and if the tread is deformed, by way of being cupped or feathered. These factors will make a tire produce alot of road noise. I just had my service staion replace the right wheel hub due to noise. I got a phone call telling me that I needed to do the other side also.
So mabey you need to replace both hubs.
Try a tire rotation-see if that makes a difference.