hi, i bought a 94 super cab 3.0 litre ranger last week with 163,000 miles on it.

i had the 3 front u-joints replaced along with brakes all around and front rotors.

i took it in to get inspected today and it passed but the guy told me to tighten the front passenger side wheel bearing and said it is pretty loose.

also while i am driving straight, i can hear an annoying humming noise coming from the front end. the noise gets louder as i speed up. but when i turn the wheel while driving, the humming stops.

could it be the loose wheel bearing that is making this noise?

if so, how do you tighten them?

thanks, any other ideas on the hum would be greatly appreciated.

JR

 

With the tire off, there is a grease cap right in the center of the rotor. Pry it off with a flat tip screwdriver and the nut is right there. You'll need to remove a cotter pin that is through the nut. A word of caution- these nuts are not meant to be "tight".

 

if the nutt is not meant to be tight, how are bearings loose then?

thanks

 

it could possibly be tires as well...

 

to tighten your wheel bearing properly, first remove the dust cap and cotter pin then take off the outer nut and torque the inner nut down to 22 to 25 foot pounds then loosen it to 15 foot pounds then install the outer nut and torque in down real tight. There should be no play in the bearing after doing this. To do this you will need a foot pound torque wrench

Chad

 

hi, i took off the tire and there was no dust cap. we tightened it up and put the wheel back on but it was loose again.

again, i didnt see a dust cap or a cotter pin.

94 supercab 3.0 4x4.

 

Same problem here with my 94.. I tryed to use a screwdriver and a rubber mallet and tighten the nut thingy....

 

I Found this diagram. hopefully it clears things up for ya.

What casfz1 and graniteguy are referring to are parts 11 cotter pin, 12 lock ring, and 13 dust cap. If you are driving around with parts 11 and 12 missing you are risking the wheel nut (part 10) loosening and your wheel falling off. If you have been driving a lot with loose wheel bearings it might not be a bad Idea to replace them after you get all the parts to reassemble it correctly.

 

wow, i posted this over a year ago guys, the problem last year was a bad wheel bearing.

got replaced.

 

DOH!! Holy necro posting... teach me to not look at the date of the post..