Wheel hub assembly making noise when turning left

SPOSAVNATION

MEMBER
2008 FORD EXPLORER
4.6L
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
145,000 MILES

For the past couple weeks there has been a howling noise while turning left that gradually got worse. As it got worse there started to be a little tension that would pull the steering wheel left as the going noise would come and then it would release and let the steering wheel go as the howling would stop until I turned left again. I ordered a new wheel hub assembly and changed the unit (without a torque wrench). After I changed the hub assembly I took the car on a test drive and the howling noise was still there but the tension pulling left was gone. I loosened the hub a half turn and took it on a second test drive and the howling got quieter so I returned to loosen the hub another quarter turn. On the 3rd test drive the tension that pulled the steering wheel left came back with a bad grinding noise. As I was letting the car coast in idle the tension would stop the vehicle for a second then there should be a bad sounding click switch would release the tension and the car would roll again. Could this be the way I installed the wheel hub assembly or could it be a worse problem in the drive train?

3 Replies

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Hi,

Sounds like you may have more issues than just the hub bearing. Clicking when turning is normally the half shafts. Hub bearings will howl and then quite down when you load and unload them by swerving.

However, when you say you backed off the torque of the bearing, did you replace just the hub bearing or did you get the assembly? I would highly recommend just replacing the assembly on these vehicles. Not only is it much easier but they are pretty cheap and don't require torquing the bearing.

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