I have a noise coming from my front passenger side wheel on my 01 Ranger. The noise comes and goes, usually when im going 1-25mph, and sounds like Im pushing a dropped plow and stops as soon as i tap my brakes. 6 months ago I replaced rotors, calipers, pads and sway bar links on the front. The noise came about a month after that work was done, so I took it back to the mechanic thinking it was his brake job that was causing it and he said it was the wheel bearing. So then I put in a $150 wheel hub assembly. The noise went away for about a thousand miles then came back and its just as bad as it was before. Now i'm thinking it is the CV joint, but as soon as I tap my brakes on the "guaranteed $550 brake job" the noise stops. Does anyone have any other ideas what it could be?

 

My mother's explorer makes a similar noise, and since the suspension is the same I'll comment.

It is the dust seal on the backside of the knuckle I believe and makes a horrendous squealing/whirring noise.

Is that similar to how you would describe it on your ranger?

 

@legoms013,

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to take a look at the dust seal. The sound is more of a grinding sound, like I'm rubbing two bricks together. If that is the problem, do you think it is worth it to spend the extra money to replace the whole axle on the right side? The truck does have 188K miles.