Front wheel bearings bad

Humming Noise Front End- Any Ideas? - Ford Explorer and Ranger ...

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Dec 18, 2008 - 19 posts - ‎16 authors
Have a 98- Eddie 4.0 SOHC, 4WD with a 100,000 mi. When driving it has a humming noise, it almost sounds like a bad tire, or a ... I start to hear the humming noise at 20 mph, it is very loud at 40 to 50 mph ... 94 XLT-95 FX4. humming gets louder as speed increases
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Sounds like you replaced the front bearing. Could be a rear wheel bearing, or one of the tires.

If the noise get louder as you speed up, it is possibly a wheel bearing, needs checking out by a mechanic.

While driving, slightly turn the wheel left and right, to see if the noise gets louder and quieter. If it does, you have a wheel bearing that is failing. Then you need to isolate which side is making noise and have it replaced. SOON

You have a defective wheel bearing most likely, the noise sounds correct for that problem. have a shop drive it before you replace anything to confirm my guess.

it's your front wheel bearing

If the noise is only when the vehicle is moving it sounds lek you have a bad wheel bearing. You can inspect ford move ment or play shaking the tires up and down and left to right while lifted up on hoist or jack. If there is no movement doesn't necesarily mean the bearings are okay, however if there is movement in bearing replace and drive again. Antoher way to determine Which wheel bearing is bad is to drive and turn to the left, if the noise gets louder than it mens the rightside wheel bearung is bad. If you turn to the right and noise gets louder replace driver side front wheel bearing. Also Rub your hands across your tires, does it feel wavy or uneven, you could have cupped tires, I DON'T KNOW HOW NEW THEY are but cupped tires will also make this noise. One way to see if it is the tires is to do a rotate If noise changes at all then you no its a tire causing noise. Hope this helps.

well did the noise start after the tires were rotated?could be choppy tires,,,if not ,i strongly think it sounds like a bad wheel bearing,,,,if you drive and while its making the noise turn left and right quick and see if the noise gets louder and which way turning makes it louder,,if you turn leftand it gets louder its usually the right wheels bearing as you are putting load on it, if it makes the noise louder while turning right its the left wheel bearing,,,got it

If the sound is all the time, no matter what you are doing then it is the Transmission going bad. CV Joints, Wheel bearing will only make the noise when in rotation.. Also remember that this is a front wheel drive car, so it will throw you off thinking it is the wheel bearings or CV joints due to the front wheel drive

That's indicative of a wheel bearing, which is why you were told to change that out. However, it's also possible that the carrier bearings in the differential (where the drive axles attach) have gone bad. That happened to me on my 300ZX several years ago, and I had to replace the diff bearings. I would have them checked out somewhere other than a dealer (you'll probably get a better price from an independent shop).

As a sidenote, to be sure it wasn't a wheel bearing, if you hear it quiet down in a turn one way but get louder in a turn the opposite way, it's likely the wheel bearing. If you turn left at speed and it gets louder, then it's the right bearing (since you're loading up that side of the car). If it gets quieter in a right turn, it's the right side (you're unloading that side of the car and not putting as much weight on it, so it doesn't drag as badly). See if you get that symptom just to be sure that the wrong side front wheel bearing wasn't changed.