Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and redneck15431
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- Dec 25, 2008
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- Vehicle Year
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1994
1991
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Transmission
- Manual
Hey all, I have a 2004 Ranger 4.0, Auto. Lately have had this oscillating howl/hum coming from my front end which is indicative of a wheel bearing, along with a very slight vibration, but thought it could have been my tires so I've sort of let it go until I could further investigate. So I tore into it today and everything seemed tight and the spindle bearings seem fine, so I began playing around with the axles and noticed that the end of the CV axle closest to the differential on the passenger side wobbled a lot, so I think that is probably my problem. I replaced the seal on that side a couple years ago because it was leaking and slinging gear oil all over the place, should have replaced the bearing then. Just to note that I will be replacing the hub/spindle assemblies on both sides anyways because I am tired of tearing apart the front end of this truck. I am doing it all on one shot this time. The winters and salty roads in the mountains of PA aren't friendly to anything to begin with, but I feel like I am replacing axles, bearings and seals way too often.
Anyways, has anyone ever replaced the front axle shaft bearings (inner) and have any advice to offer? Any special tools? I will be tackling this next weekend hopefully. I've searched quite a bit and I don't see much online regarding these bearings. To my understanding, they do not carry much load since the rotating driveline assembly is basically designed to "float" and not carry much weight; only the weight of the axle and any rotational force associated so they do not go bad often.
Anyways, has anyone ever replaced the front axle shaft bearings (inner) and have any advice to offer? Any special tools? I will be tackling this next weekend hopefully. I've searched quite a bit and I don't see much online regarding these bearings. To my understanding, they do not carry much load since the rotating driveline assembly is basically designed to "float" and not carry much weight; only the weight of the axle and any rotational force associated so they do not go bad often.
