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My Ford Ranger 4X4 has an awful humming and slight vibration coming from the front end. It unbearable around 30 mph. When I turn right it goes away. I replaced the right side hub assembly but it did not fix the problem. Do you think it is the left side (drive) hub assembly or does it sound like something inside the front axle?
Well, unfortunately this could indicate a CV joint issue. It's easy enough to clear with the car up in the air and the 4WD going.
An old trick for CV joints is to turn the steering wheel from lock to lock while the engine was spinning the wheels. If the wheel stopped spinning before the end of the steering travel, then the CV joint was bad. This is a little impractical with 4WD, since all the wheels would need to be off the ground.
You've found all the hub bearings; The only other bearings would be by the ring gear carrier. The CV joint should have absolutely no play and move freely through it's entire range of motion. The CV shouldn't have "Stiff" spots when you move it by hand.
When you turn right, the left wheel slows down. Humming and vibration are usually a bearing problem, so replacing the left hub may be needed, but the hub should really be disassembled and inspected completely first.
Also; The drive shaft for the front axle runs under the driver's seat (roughly). This could also be the source of your problem. Check for dents or loosness at the front and rear joints.
Thanks Phil. I really appreciate your help. Since the sound completely goes away when the wheel is turned to the right can I rule out problems with the cv joints, half shafts and stuff thats buried deep inside? I can only remove and replace the hub there is no disassembling it. It's a sealed unit. I did notice when I took off the passenger side hub the only visible bearings looked fine. Are there other bearings inside the axle that could be bad?
99' F-Ranger 4X4 3.0 manual with auto hubs and electronic switch.
2 Ford dealers tell me I can use it as a toad as is, 2 tell me I can't unless I do a drive shaft coupling mod. What's up? Is there a definative resource I can go to to find this info out for sure? Thx, Dave
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