A word of advice (DUH) but don't ignore a strange noise....

[Ranger Smith]

First off Hello to all, it is my first post here, but I've read a lot prior to this and I apologize if this is in the wrong section. As the title to this post states, don't ignore a strange noise. As an ASE mechanic I should know better than this and I got lucky as hell. On my way home from work a few days ago, I started to hear a strange noise coming from the front drivers wheel and feeling it in the steering wheel. Coming up to a stoplight I felt a pulsing in the brake pedal and the steering shimmied a bit too.. "Warped Rotor" was my first best guess and no real big deal, just a nuisance, albeit one that must be addressed soon.

I had a day off work coming up so all I needed to do was get to work and home one more day ( 10 miles) No big deal------ DUMBARSE! I should have popped off the tire and looked that night. Well coming home the night before my day off it got worse and the "warped" feel turned into a grinding and a real bad shimmy or the brake and wheel... ½ a mile to home so I put on hazards and slow crawled it, never shifting out of second gear. Pulling up to my driveway I pushed on the brakes and wham all the way to the floor as I turned into it... I hope none of you ever have that experience of foot to floor and no stoppie.... Those of you that have, you know that heart dropping, slow motion, foot pumping as fast as you can feeling trying to stop... Let's just say if my truck weren't a manual transmission and an automatic, I probably would've needed a new garage door. Instead realizing I wasn't getting brake pressure, I shut the ignition off and choked Smith down to a stop inches from the door.

I then pushed him into the garage and took a quick look under, nothing leaking, nothing obviously broken, but I did notice the inner rotor surface was gouged up pretty good, then I noticed the inboard pad was missing!!! That explained the lack of braking power, but how did that happen? The next day is when I found my answers...

Taking the trash out to the curb before starting the troubleshooting, I noticed a piece of metal a car lengths back from my driveway... Yep it was my inboard pad.

I'm not exactly what initially caused the cataclysmic event that led to the brake failure, but it was not the brakes. When I lifted the driver's side up, the wheel skewed a good 4 inches, no kidding. Up, down, left, right and about half as much in and out.... Bearing.... As I'm moving the tire around, I'm hearing and seeing pieces of metal fall to the floor and yep rollers from the bearing(s)...

With the wheel off I discovered the manual 4WD hub insides were destroyed but luckily the axle was spared, the outer bearing was destroyed, the retaining washer was so deformed, it made its way past the locking C clip. The races in the rotor were totally fried, the grease seal was in pieces, the inner bearing seemed OK, but the spline itself was gummed up where the outer bearing used to ride on from the pieces of it breaking apart.

My best educated guess is that the inner retaining nut broke off that stupid little pin and started the whole process of loosing the outer nut through vibrations, etc... The outer nut forcing it self into the retaining washer wore it down and deformed it to the point that is jumped over the C clip and into the Hub assembly messing it up royal. Meanwhile the outer bearing has all kinds of play now to self destruct and the more it did, the looser the wheel got... The constant flexing on the spline actually compressed the caliper piston back to the point where the pad was ready to fall out and must have happened on that last turn onto my street. I also don't know where, but all that flexing and compressing of the caliper also cause the upper guide "pin" to fall out which probably isn't that far from the corner...

Parts List:
1 rotor 65.00
bearing set 20.00
grease seal 5.00
tube of bearing grease 7.00
set of guide pins 17.00
retaining washer 28.00
brake cleaner 5.00
Scrapyard manual 4wd hub @ 20.00, new 65.00 (availability pending)

Total cost @ 170.00 and some

Now I can't be 100% sure that if I had opened it up when I first heard the noise would've cheapened the repair any, I mean after all, what more damage could 10 miles really do anyway---haha. What I can tell you is that cars and trucks DO NOT make funny noises. They make problem noises and that problem will not go away by itself. Smoking from the rear will not go away if you adjust your mirrors, bad sounds from the drive train and or suspension will not go away if you turn up the radio and most importantly, the longer you wait, the more costly the repair will become and dangerous too.... My brakes could've failed at anytime and caused major damage, injury or death.... Smith may be pushing 30 years old with 497K miles on him and like me has creaks and groans, but you'd better be sure next time anything is out of the ordinary, I won't monkey around with waiting!!!

 

[91stranger]

I learned that lesson the hard way today. I heard slight noises coming from the alternator the other day and just ignored it b/c it went away after it warmed up. I figured it was just the cold weather messing with stuff. I was wrong. Made a left turn and then heard terrible noises and a large ball of smoke came out from under the hood. It literally looked like my truck caught fire with how much smoke there was. Luckily when I stopped and popped the hood it calmed back down and I was able to get it to work. Pretty sure the alternator locked up for a second and the belt caused all the smoke. The belt looks ok but I'm going to replace it obviously. Luckily the parts store has one in stock and we have an account with them through work so I got a good discount AND they are bringing me the alternator. So it's not all bad I guess. Could've broke the belt when it happened as I was halfway between work and home. I should've addressed this when I first heard the sound but I let it go blaming the cold. I agree 100% with the above. When I was an auto tech we always sold ball joints/tie rods to customers when you explain that "they don't fix themselves or get better as time goes on". Once they hear that they were sold on the parts/labor then.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Welcome to TRS Ranger Smith...

Yep... that sure coulda been worse. Surprised you didn't have clues way before total failure... you typically would.

I see you're also from the over taxed state of IL... you poor soul (taxed to death)… I have an exodus plan in the works. My soul goal in life at the moment is putting this state in the rearview mirror.

Not sure where you are in IL... but there are a couple others on here that "maybe could" help with a part if you need it. You sure the spindle isn't torn up?

I have a complete 94 4x4 parts truck... and I really want to get it gone complete. I'll also give you a shout out to @Bird76Mojo … he may have the stuff you need.

Most here are pretty passionate about these old trucks... we like to see them around... so we try to help get them back up and going again.

 

[Ranger850]

I like the name "Smith" for a/your Ranger. Very common and unassuming character name. I have been trying to come up with a name for mine for almost 10 years now but "the truck" seems to be the only fitting thing to call it, for now.

 

[gw33gp]

Yes, high mileage vehicle can have some very strange failures. I am glad you got by without more serious damage. One thing that caught my attention in your attempt to stop is; you did not mention using the parking brake. It may not be great at stopping a vehicle but is surely helps. Years ago, it used to be call an Emergency Brake.

 

[Ranger Smith]

91 Stranger... Been there done that on my old 91 Fox Body hatchback stang... It would squeal for a few seconds on occasion when first starting up, then go away. turns out I'm glad the 2.3 is a non-interference motor since it was a failing water pump bearing and the timing belt went poof because of it.... 350K on that car, had it for well over 15 years until the passenger strut tower mount rotted out and I was forced to sell it. $700.00 on craigslist and gone in less than 4 hours. Not because of the 2.3 motor or automatic A4LD trans or the body, but for the very very nice interior for someone converting a drag 5.0 fox to a street car... RIP Truckstang but you also will live on...

Uncle Gump... Thank you for the welcome and honestly this all happened within 20 miles of first "noise" issue indications... You are right that I should've had a some other early warning, but sometimes shiate happens and it happens fast. The spindle was gouged a bit from the outer bearing falling apart, but the run-out on it is fine and no slap with the new bearing races are present. If the rollers of the bearing themselves were to contact the spindle, then nope, new (used) spindle definitely, but all ok... I am in Plainfield so not too far from you, in fact my doctor is in the Fox River Dr and W South Street area... small world....

Ranger 850... Ty all the same I figured Smith was a fitting name since it is a Ranger and Smith "Ranger Smith" from Yogi The Bear was one of my fav cartoons growing up...

gw33gp... The thought did not even cross my mind since unfortunately my parking brake (emergency brake) cable has snapped and it inoperable.. scrapyards and donor vehicles in this area are not common at all and a new assembly is pushing 250.00.... I just leave it in gear (reverse) when parking. If for whatever reason I park on a major grade, I do have a block of wood I use and or the curb

 

[Uncle Gump]

I kinda figured that Ranger Smith was from Yogi... I like it.

You are about the closest person to me I've found on here. I'm hoping to make a trip to the junkyard tomorrow... I will keep an eye open for a set of hubs when I'm there. He had a couple Rangers when I was there last time... but I believe they were 2wd's. We'll see if I can turn up something...

 

[1999Mazda Central Florida]

Timely warning: I'm getting a significant pulsing from "old red." It's worsening...warped rotors I suppose that need to be replaced and I have all the parts ready to go, just waiting for some time off to do the job.
Thanks again

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Ranger 850... Ty all the same I figured Smith was a fitting name since it is a Ranger and Smith "Ranger Smith" from Yogi The Bear was one of my fav cartoons growing up...

So, this is what you look like, then:

I'd have posted this in this thread even if somebody else hadn't picked up on it. I saw your userid, and I thought "I just have to. It's too perfect!".

gw33gp... The thought did not even cross my mind since unfortunately my parking brake (emergency brake) cable has snapped and it inoperable.. scrapyards and donor vehicles in this area are not common at all and a new assembly is pushing 250.00.... I just leave it in gear (reverse) when parking. If for whatever reason I park on a major grade, I do have a block of wood I use and or the curb

You're actually *supposed* to park it in gear, with the brake set. NEVER in neutral, although the one manual transmission I had that had command start had to be parked in neutral with the brake set in order to set the command start. Even automatics are *supposed* to be parked with the brake set (so says the owner's manual), but I never do, unless I'm on a hill. Even all the vehicles I've had with a manual transmission, I didn't usually set the parking brake, unless I was parked on a hill.

All of that said, welcome. Fair warning about me: Take me with a grain of salt (see my signature for why).

 

[Ranger850]

I never made the yogi connection, didnt really ever know he had a real name,

 

[Mike92STX]

Well Ranger smith and uncle Gump I have a 92 STX I'm trying to sell. A lot of body rust but it's mechanically sound. I have had similar problems except mine were cause by 35 inch tires, wheel spacers and not tightening the bearings down tight enough or correctly. I have a spindle and some brake drums and I thing I have a rotor. Spare parts from wheels coming loose and almost falling off and replacing the differentials to get a better gear and limited slip. I might even have a manual hub out in the garage. You could buy the truck and I would through the spare parts in or drive up to Zion and I could give you the parts. I have pictures of my rusty STX in the for sale section. There's a member down in central Illinois that rebuilds transmissions as a hobby. Sorry I can't remember his name, he is a prison guard.