Heres the problem. While traveling down the road, no matter what speed, and I hit a bump of anykind, I start to get a very bad vibration in the front end. It goes away if I come to a complete stop, but then once I get going again, and hit a bump it comes back. I am going to guess and say it is on the passenger side, seeing how I just had the driver side hub assembly replaced. Just double checking, is this my wheel bearing? just from the description on the problem, its been raining hard today so havent been able to jack the truck up. Also when turning I get a squeak the whole time Im turning until I straighten back up, metal on metal sound. and when going slow without the vibration, I hear a bu bu bu with the sound increasing its speed by how fast Im going. Ive had a few around here say it may be my steering. But im beginning to think its a wheel bearing. any thoughts?

 

inner tie rods?
check and make sure your tires are balanced or you didnt loose the weights.

 

Last time I had that problem it was ball joints.

 

jack the truck off the ground and wiggle the tire around, it will show the loose spot if there is any.

 

just had ball-joints done not even 5000 miles ago

 

Well bearings are becoming a distinct possibility. Your 4x4 has non-serviceable "unit bearings" which are a pain to replace but that may be just what you'll need to do.

 

did you try what i said?

 

not yet, just got my clothes on to go out and test them, i am having a feeling that it is the wheel bearing. Driving from school yesterday, which is about a 3 hour drive, it did fine for the first few hours, I got about 45 minutes from home and it started up, relaying to me it is something that is a constant moving part, and then the other thing that tipped me off was the rub rub sound going with the speed of the tire. I beleive its the passenger side wheel bearing, seeing how the drivers side was replaced at the same time as the ball joints. give me a few, and I'll post back if I find anything.

 

alright, just jacked the truck up and did the shake test, no movement at all. Then let the passenger side and went to the drivers side to jack it up, still no play. a few months back my drivers side avm hub fell off going down the road and so I just found the gears for it and made a live axle on that side. well I turned the driver side tire, and sure enough there was the rub rub rub on the passenger side, being that both cv shafts were turning. I havnet taken it out for a test run yet, but thought to shake the cv shafts, while the drivers side is very tight, the passenger side is quite loose, and also noticed where some diff fluid had been leaking out on the passenger side. Is this problem my cv shaft?

 

not the cvs, still does it. so its looking more like the wheel bearings, but what is puzzling is that they dont have any play in them. Is it possible for a wheel bearing to be bad with out having any play in them?

 

third post in a row with no replies....yesss!!! I feel special...anyway, to update, I took it to ford today here at home, they replied, "well we cant do anything for you, because your 4wd hubs are out. Your transmission supporting cross member is bent(hit a rock) and welded into place(didnt feel like comepletly aligning holes with things bent, lol), and your gonna need a new frame, which your better off just buying a new truck. And your front drive shaft has been welded on to the front differential(rung off 2 bolts with the massive torq of the 3.0, hahahaa lol). So until these problems are resolved, we cant help you, your total is $83 for taking 2 minutes to point the obvious. Biggest B.S. Ive ever heard. Can you say theft? funny thing was I had my new box of hubs sitting in the passenger seat. open.

Got back in my truck, called the dealership back at school, described my problem, he said more then likly it sounds like a wheel bearing, and told me the ford dealer at home was full of $hit for telling me they couldnt do anything.

Got home, noticed something. on that passenger side hub, there is a lot more play in the cv then the driver side, as far as being able to wiggle it more, is that a bad wheel bearing?or cv axle?. I took my avm hub, locked it in, to lock the cv and hub together, and away the vibration went, away all the sounds went.

 

i replaced my hub assembly about 3 weeks ago and i had no play in it when i would yank on it, thats more than likely what it is, the rubbing could be your brakes, thats what was happening to mine......and having only one side done with the "hub mod" prob isnt the best thing either, it dosent make and sense to me atleast, get everything back the way its supposed to be......

 

It's not YOU, lol, it's your problem -- I don't think anyone has a "definitive" answer...

 

I know,lol, I was bein sarcastic.

 

I have a 98 ranger 4.0 4wd with the same problem. Hit a bump get horrible vibration and a hum "grinding metal on metal noise". I come to a stop noise goes away, accelerate to roughly 25mph and noise and vibration comes back. wheel bearing is tight. has new ball joints, brakes, rotors, calipers, and wheel bearing were replaced 1 year ago. Im stumped on this problem.....

 

I noticed you haven't listed tie rod ends or wheel balancing. I suggest pulling the brakes apart an look for any shavings, clean the hub surface and rotors of any rust then reassemble. You have missed something, and its really hard to diagnosis with out inspecting.

Did you do a voodoo dance to raise the dead? This thread is over 5 years old.

 

no i just did alot of searching and reading. tie rods are oem. the tires are out of balance. I actually just pulled the bearing out and inspected it. found nothing damaged,broken, bent, metal shavings of any kind. I just definitly know its in the front end.

 

What bearing did you pull out? The front wheel bearing is a sealed part and is unserviceable.

 

Has anyone had any other luck troubleshooting this? I am having the very same problem. When I hit a bump or even a crack in the road I get a heavy vibration that feels like its right under my seat. I already have replaced both wheel hubs with OEM and lower ball joints as well. Here is the weird part...when I cycle the 4x4 it stops the vibration but then it will quickly start again. Tires are fine, upper ball joints are fine.

 

I'm having same vibration problem. No play in wheels bearings. Just replaced from shocks and sway bar link ends. Anyone figure it could be my tie roads. Curious