IWE (integrated wheel end replacement)
Last winter I had a moaning sound in my front end when slowing down to a stop when the temps were around the freezing mark. When it would happen, sometimes i would engage the 4WD and it would go away, and come right back when dissengaging the 4WD. I took it to my dealer and Ford's procedure was to re-pack the front wheel bearings. When I got the truck back the weather warmed up and the moaning didn't come back. When this winter started and the cold weather came back, so did the moaning in the front end when slowing to a stop. I Took it back to my dealer again, and this time they checked what I suspected all along, the IWE's for the 4WD (the integrated wheel ends). the seals were cracked, letting moisture and rust formation inside of them. After the IWE replacement, the moaning noise went away. My research has found that this problem goes back to around 2004 on up. If anyone has these symptoms with their 4WD truck in the cold weather, have your mechanic check out the Integrated Wheel Ends. By the way, my oldest son is the Ford tech that performed the repair on my truck, so it was in his best interest that my truck was fixed ;).
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