Grinding

[kirscht]

2002 expedition
Noticed my exp. had a grinding noise so mechanic took a quick peek and said sway bar links and bushings needed to be replaced. Replaced because they were bad but grinding is still there.
I put it in 4x4 and the grinding is way worse, sounds like it is half engaged. I did lots of research and lots of people say vacuum lines or the pvh (pulse vacuum hubs) or iwe (integrated wheel ends) wich I cannot find, is it between the battery and side wall? How do I test those to see if it the prob?
I am a stay at home mom trying to figure this out by myself as my husband is gone to work. Any thoughts or pictures of things i can check will be much appreciated.

 

[tonydiv]

1. Get a different mechanic. Although he found something that was broken, he should have known that it wouldn't have caused a grinding noise. (it would possibly have cause a knocking or banging when hitting bumps, but not grinding)

2. Did the mechanic bother to check the brakes, wheel hubs and / or driveshaft for the noise?

3. Someone with am '02 may have to correct me, but I don't think that the '02s had IWEs. I thought that started in '03.

If the brakes have been checked out, then I would put my money on wheel hubs (aka wheel bearings).