Godfather
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• Sea Cliff, Long Island, NY, USA |
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• Registered on 4/13/2003 |
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• 53 posts |
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 Posted:10/21/2006 21:02 |
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Hello Guys!! Big problem- please help!!
My '02 7.3 FWD Excursion (176,000 miles) had a rumble from the right front on left turns that went away on right turns. I figured typical wheel bearing problem. I looked at Guzzle's home page on FTE and he mentioned that the needle bearings get dry and make the noise .
I figured I'd change the ORIGINAL brakes and rotors too and since the ABS light was on I'd check the wires and sensors. I removed the selector vacuum hub, rotor and hub assembly with studs. The bearing felt fine and the needle bearing was still well greased. BUT, I replaced the stud/ hub/bearing assy ($380.00!!) assembly figuring it was making the rumble under load.
I reassembled everything and rumble is STILL THERE , in two or 4 wheel drive. The hubs engage and disengage and I can feel the tires "scuff" in 4wd.
In addition (this is weird) the U-joint can move up and down almost a sixteenth of an inch, where it exits the front differential. Yet, there is no fluid leak at the seal??? Can the bad U-joint make that noise in two wheel drive, since it does not spin ( I marked and check that it and the other side don't move) .
The hub replacement job wasn't fun BUT, the U-joint replacement looks like a nightmare!! It looks like the ball joints have to be removed and then the u-joint and internal bearing in the differential have to be pulled out and replaced. Do I have to remove a c-clip inside the front diff cover to pull out the shaft? The u-joint itself looks fine and the Exc has had very little 4WD time so, I was wondering if only the bearing and race in the diff can be replaced??
The front U-joint on the other side is tight and has no up/down play like this bad right side does.
Have any of you had this front diff or u joint problem?????
TIA for your help ..........................
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Godfather
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• Sea Cliff, Long Island, NY, USA |
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• Registered on 4/13/2003 |
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• 53 posts |
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Posted:11/15/2006 16:12 |
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UNBELIEVABLE !!!! Ok, here's the update on my rumbling noise problem:
I replaced the original RF rotor, pads and caliper pins (I bought the truck new so I know they were never changed) . The pads were 2/3 worn and rotors probably could have been cut. The caliper pins were nasty though.
I was still freaking-out over the unsolved bearing noise but, as I jacked up the LF side of the Ex, I heard a "bump"- WTF??? I went to the wheel and grabbed it- over an inch of "rock" in the bearings!!!!
I found the bad bearing- it was the left, not the right side.
Here's what's so weird- on all my other cars (mostly Volkswagen Rabbits and Golfs) if there was a front wheel bearing noise the ID of the location was easy. If you turned left and the noise got louder, you were loading the right front bearing so, that side was the bad one. NOT So on the Excursion!! Maybe the dual bearing set-up causes this but it is weird.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not crying in my chianti over replacing the "good' right side bearing assembly because at 177k, I got my money's worth. At least I have 2 brand new bearings on the front and I'm ready for the next 177K!!!
It seems that the play in the front u-joint shaft is acceptable so I'm not going to mess with it- I will change the front diff fluid though.
The brake parts I used for replacement are from Pep Boys. the pads are Raybestos sold a s Pep's top line pad. i wanted Raybestos rotors BUT they were $120.00 each!!! I hate to admit it because I always try to buy USA - I ended up with the Red Chinese rotors at $50.00 each. It really bugged me to use the Chi-Com parts but I spent over $800.00 at Northport Ford on the bearing assemblies and couldn't kepp cash-burning after that. It'll be interesting to see how well they work.
I just got back from a road trip to & from New Orleans and everything was fine (3,000 miles). Yeah everything was great with the truck but, I was towing the 24 foot long flat-front car trailer with 4 pieces of Physical Therapy machines. Instead of getting 20 to 21 mpg as I usually get solo, the best I got was 12.3 mpg- OUCH!!!!!!
BTW, the needle bearings in the hubs were still wel greased and looked new!!
Check out my next post for my new problem........................
Happy Upcoming Thanksgiving to you and families!!!
Ciao, Greg
PS- is my trailer big enough???
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