Grinding noise driving

[Jonathan Spies]

Hi guys,
I have a 2008 expedition El with about 170k miles.
Truck drives good but I get noises which really making driving uncomfortable. I have two different kind of noises.

1. when I turn slightly (just two fingers are enough) left I immediately get a bad grinding noise pretty sure it’s from the front left, pretty loud on the highway (55 and more) as soon as the steering wheel is straight it’s away. When I go right I also get a noise on the Right front but not so bad. Doesn’t get louder if I turn more its starts right away when I steer ehrtet it is just a tiny little bit to stay in the lane or driving a curve.
As mentioned when I go straight I don’t get the noise, it doesn’t matter how fast I go.

2. when I go over 60mph and straight and I hit the gas I also get a noise (sounds like rear center), just slightly hitting the gas is enough to make the noise no difference if I hit it hard or just a little bit.

i replaced the front wheel bearings last year. I rotated tires and a shop made a professional wheel alignment I also rebalanced the tires. Didn’t change anything.
Would be great if somebody has an idea or can say what parts you would start replacing in which order.

 

[Jonathan Spies]

Forgot to mention:
It’s a 4wd, noise is there whether you are in in 2H or auto/4H

 

[07navi]

I would start by jacking it up in front and shake each wheel and spin them. Turn the wheel and try again also.

 

[John Kohler]

I'm not sure the noise while turning supports this, but when I had front grinding noise it was the front differential. And I could hear it in 2 WD.

 

[07navi]

The spider gears only move when you are turning so that's a possibility but it's rare for them to go bad unless it ran low on oil and someone had an odd size tire on one side or it took on a lot of water.

 

[Jonathan Spies]

The spider gears only move when you are turning so that's a possibility but it's rare for them to go bad unless it ran low on oil and someone had an odd size tire on one side or it took on a lot of water.

I had the same thought and went to a transmission/differential rebuilt shop, he has a very good reputation and is in business over 25 years. He test drove the truck with me for about 25minutes and said as much as he wants to have business but with his experience he was very sure that it’s not coming from the differentials, it would sound different and he also confirmed that the differentials on these trucks are quite solid and well build.

Would it make sense to change the struts?

 

[07navi]

I had the same thought and went to a transmission/differential rebuilt shop, he has a very good reputation and is in business over 25 years. He test drove the truck with me for about 25minutes and said as much as he wants to have business but with his experience he was very sure that it’s not coming from the differentials, it would sound different and he also confirmed that the differentials on these trucks are quite solid and well build.

Would it make sense to change the struts?

Struts will do nothing. Those spider gears will last forever but if one wheel was larger and it ran low on oil or ingested water they can get ruined, even without an off sized tire. Does it have a limited slip diff? Look into the power steering pump also.