front suspension questions

[clinchfield33]

Hello again,

2000 expy, 4.6, 4 wheel drive.

My front passenger side tire is wearing bad on the outside edge, and I have a roar in the front end when starting off and sometimes while coasting down the road.

Took it to a tire shop and they are saying I need the front drivers side upper A arm replaced.

This is my set of questions. One, will that part be responsible for all the above? Second, should I replace the upper and lower on both sides?

 

[FordandPolaris]

Well basically what they are telling you is that you have a bad upper ball joint. That whole upper arm must be replaced in order to replace this ball joint. This would cause uneven tire wear if the ball joint is now loose. As for the bottom, you do not need to replace the a-arm, only the lower ball joint itself. Usually these are the first to wear, so if the upper is in fact bad, the lower is not far behind (same goes for the other side as well).

How many miles on the truck?

The roar could be something else but I would do one thing at a time starting with ball joints. Be aware that if you replace the upper ball joints/control arm the truck will need an alignment. Replacing the lowers does not require an alignment.

If you are going to get them replaced, it would be worth replacing the inner and outer tie rod ends on both sides as well so that you do not have to get separate alignments for each project. Saves money in the long run.

 

[clinchfield33]

The truck has 147,450 on it.

Thank you for your reply, I will request for the ball joints to also be replaced. I did not notice the roar until the tire began to wear....the tire was reduced to the metal in less than 500 miles.

 

[clinchfield33]

strange noises now

replaced the upper control arm, now under gas I have a metal on metal grinding noise.
The truck is full time four wheel drive. Could the bad A arm have damaged the drive shaft to that side?

 

[expydaddy]

Sounds to me like a bad wheel bearing hub assembly. Get a good floor jack and jack up each side of the front end. Grab each front wheel at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock. Push/pull. If there is ANY play. then it is your wheel bearing.

Or a bad cv joint also.
Or both
Or more
I only know this because these 6k pound behemoths love two things. Gas and front end suspension work.


I am not a mechanic so don't hurt yourself and use jack stands always.

Good luck

 

[BlRob]

+1 on the wheel bearing. When I bought mine, this was the first thing I noticed. It sounded like a whining/roaring sound. Having dealt with this on the Explorer, I knew exactly what it was. Also helped me to drive the price down...

 

[tonydiv]

I wouldn't take it back to that same shop. They should have easily picked up on the problem wheel hub. If it's that loud then it is probably also loose and wobbly.

Sounds like they are just parts changers and not actual mechanics.

 

[clinchfield33]

Thanks to everyone.

I will be taking it to another shop, unless I get the courage to fix it myself.

If it every stops raining I will jack it up and see what I can find, and report it back to you guys and the rest of the forum.

 

[clinchfield33]

Jacked up the truck today, there is no play in the wheel at all.

I only hear the roaring noise under acceleration. While coasting there is no noise.

I have taken it to three shops with three sure fix explanations.

The noise is much the same as when your brakes start to rub metal on metal.

When the truck is under stress when acceleration the noise is the worst...for example if I start up a hill and the trans shifts into a lower gear the noise is the loudest. I let off the pedal going up the same hill and the noise stops.

Should I just keep driving it till whatever breaks? Then I would know for sure..lol

 

[clinchfield33]

Just for giggles I unplugged the transfer case....now there is no noise at all...so I know its in the cv joint, drive shaft, wheel bearing area for sure...
This forum has saved me alot of money!
Is there a way to make a contribution to keep it going?

 

[TexasAngel34]

Yup just go to the top of the page and hit where it says become a supporting member and wala...

 

[FordandPolaris]

Well to be honest I would not think it is either of those 3 if it went away after unplugging the t-case. My mom's '00 likes to try and lock 4wd at speed, making this awful grinding sound. We pulled the fuse under the hood and it drives fine now. Basically deactivates the magnetic clutch that operates the A4WD in the t-case.

If you had unplugged it and it was still there, then I would say it is a suspension component since they are moving regardless. That being said, if the hubs haven't been replaced, it wouldn't hurt to do them. Mine went out around 160k. They are pretty easy to replace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCr8XyTEGmQ

Same method as on the expy. One thing I will warn against is that when I did mine, I could not get the rotor to separate from the hub, so I just replaced those too while I was in there.