2004 Explorer Axle replacement: clicking returned after a week
 

Hello everyone. I have something to run by you guys. I replaced my right front axle a week ago because I was getting severe popping/clicking noises. The boot was torn on the axle and I had grease all over the inside of my rim etc...
The popping/clicking sound was gone immediately after replacing the axle. Now starting yesterday, exactly one week after I replaced it I noticed the popping/clicking sound coming back. It was faint at first but started getting louder. Now today it's almost as bad as it was before I replaced the axle. I still have to get underneath and see if I can hear where it's coming from but do you guys have any ideas? Think the axle is bad again? It is an after market Axle, ToughOne is the brand I believe.

Just for a quick history. All four wheel bearings were replaced about two years ago. All four ball joints about a year and a half ago. I replaced the outer tie rod ends about two weeks ago.

2004 Ford Explorer, 4X4, 4.0 Flex Fuel

Sounds like you got a reboxed China part. everything in the front end is new, you had and explosion on the c/v boot then dirt gets in and ect. ect. ect. Just get under and make sure you didnt rip the boot on the swaybar link or something like that, problem is china is building most of our parts, they only fix whats wrong, maybe threw some new balls in on an old cage, the boots are garbage, the have no regulation there, then they ship them here and rebox them,m you have to stick with a company who still has standards that have to apply NTW, MOOG, yes there more expensive, but at least you wont have to do the job twice.:(

Thanks for the feedback David. Yea, from what I've been reading it seems to be a common issue with non OEM axles for a lot of cars. Ugh! I'll have to get under the truck again, make sure everything is tight, etc... Also I wanna make sure it's not the other side going bad, but it looks fine. I guess I'll have to look into a better quality axle this time if I have to replace it again. At least I'll know what I'm doing this time around!

I would not jump to conclusions.. You had a noise, truck was taken apart and axle installed, and now you got a noise again... What if the noise is NOT from the axle. What if the boot was leaking grease, but that was not the noise ? I would examine everything and not just look at the axle.

bdf24..... any update ?