Alright gentlemen... here's the issue, I have a grinding/roaring noise coming from my front end. Similar to a wheel bearing roar, so similar in fact that it sounds exactly like a wheel bearing and has the same symptoms (noise goes away when i make a right turn or go around a curve, since it unloads the weight on the right side of the truck) except for the wobble when you shake the wheel while its off the ground.
That being said i replaced the hub bearings seeing that i have 120k on the stock bearing assy's. No fix for my lovely noise. While doing the pass side bearing i noticed an axle leak from the front diff to the cv joint. I've talked to stone about this issue and he said that it could be the bearing inside the diff for that cv shaft...
I have no issue with pulling the diff and rebuilding it but i have to wait for the parts to come in and then re assemble everything. My main question here is, can i run my truck without the front diff and cv shafts in the hub bearings and do no damage to my new hubs? Some have said it will fry my new hub bearings, some have said that it'll be fine without running the cv shaft & axle nut on there seeing that 2wd explorers run the same setup with no issue.

I'M ASKING Y'ALL B/C I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS BEARING ASSEMBLY. will i be able to get by without the driveshafts in the hub bearing assemblies for a week or 2?

thanks for reading my rediculously long post, and i really appreciate any helpful insight.

 

From what I've read about these wheel bearings, they stay together via the CV shaft and the nut on it.

You'll need to find a busted up CV shaft, cut off a piece from the threads to the 'bucket' on the backside, then bolt that stub to the wheel bearing/hub assy. Now that I think of it, you probably don't need to cut it up, you just need to seperate the 'shaft' portion from the outside joint. I know this is an extreme....but....you COULD run a 2wd Edge/Sport or possibly a 2wd Explorer spindle with it's bearings and rotors. An extreme idea should it need to go that route, but you probably won't have to.

Cory(Cory07ranger4x4?), the guy with the SAS'd 07 on 40's, posted pics of his friends long travel was-4x4 '01+ ranger. He used a CV stub to keep the bearings together.

You should be able to find some cheap, maybe even already taken apart CV's out of a 95+ explorer from the local wrecking yard.

 

My understanding is the same as Shane's. Separate the CV joints from the shafts, and leave the stubs in the wheel bearings since they are keeping it all together.

 

Absolutely, positively, DO NOT run unit bearings with no outer stub. That holds the bearing together.

I had a friend who found out the hard way doing about 35 with his two kids in the truck. The unit bearing lasted about 10 miles before he lost a wheel.

 

alrighty.. thats pretty much what i was looking for.lol i appreciate it guys, looks like i need to find some busted up cv shafts tomorrow.

 

just rebuild that dang axle lol its not had! your making more out of it then it is!

how long is the seals and bearings gonna be to come in?

 

they'll be in thursday... i'm gonna have to get some ****ty cv shafts and hack them up b/c i've got alot of driving to do this week and i cant be truckless.

 

sorry for the noob question, and maybe its a difference between the 01 and my 96, but I thought the front diff and front axles didn't get loaded unless in 4wd, but if you're looking at installing fake axles (instead of just switching to 2wd mode) then I don't understand why it's a problem in 2wd mode. Please school me.

 

01+ Rangers use a live axle, it still turns even in 2wd with no power applied to it.

 

thanks for the info, I may have a similar problem to edgeman, and the difference between the model years explains the difference in symptoms I'm still working the issues in a 96 I recently picked up, and in 2wd its fine. but in 4wd it sounds terrible, like a bad wheel bearing up front.

 

I had a similar problem and thought it was a wheel bearing, but it turned out to be the carrier bearing on the drive shaft. I know it suprised me.