2000 Ford Ranger hub / wheel bearing help!

[Amarissa]

If you have a bad wheel bearing on the front drivers side, can it cause the 4wd to fail? Both front brakes were just replaced.
Thanks in advance, Amarissa

 

[adsm08]

Uh.... What?

I'm not sure that the question, as stated, really makes a lot of sense.

 

[Amarissa]

The 4wd stopped engaging a while back. Maybe a month ago. The brakes (front) were changed this week. 4wd still will not engage. The driver side wheel bearing now needs replacing. I was wondering if any of these things could cause the front hub to not engage into 4wd?

 

[adsm08]

Well changing the brakes and wondering why it didn't fix the 4x4 is like picking your nose and wondering why you still feel like you need to take a dump.

If the transfer case is shifting but one or both of the hubs is not engaging then a bad bearing could do that. It might be keeping the seal on the vacuum hub from sealing, which will keep the hub from locking. But I would rate it low on the list of probable suspects.

 

[Amarissa]

Thank you for your response adsm08. There is a lot of play in the wheel, about an inch. Guess the next step is to either confirm or eliminate the bearing.