Intermittent noise under hard turning

[37ford]

For a few months, my 2019 4WD has been making an intermittent noise when turning hard in driveways/parking lots. I had been dealing with another issue that turned out to be wheel hubs, and I was hoping that fix would cure it all.

I have changed the hubs, and the turning noise is still there. The frustrating part is that it is pretty infrequent, so it’s hard to diagnose.

The best way I can describe it is that it sounds like a slight tire rub with a “roh roh roh roh” sound at full or near full turn both left and right. I have stock wheels, and I replaced the tires with stock size about 4 months ago.

I checked the 4WD hubs when trying to diagnose the wheels hub noise previously, and the system was good and holding vacuum.

 

[BMW2FORD]

Do you have the eLSD rear diff?

 

[ROBERT BONNER]

Andy:

This assumes when you say you replaced front "hubs" you mean "hub clutches". If you meant the bearing cartridge, disregard below and look at the hub clutches and associated vacuum system.

How many miles? Could be front wheel bearing(s). I've had a lot of front bearing failures on my F150's. Unfortunately, the failure modes and noises were different on every one of them. But, the identification of the problem always starts with some type of new noise from the front wheels under certain conditions. One thing to check for in your case is the rotor(s) rubbing the brake caliper bracket(s). If the bearing is deflecting enough under cornering loads, the rotor(s) will rub the caliper bracket(s), I've experienced it. It is usually easy to identify without any disassembly required. After hearing the noise, immediately inspect the outer outside edge of the rotor (looking through the openings in the wheel). If it has contacted the bracket, the edge will be shiny rather than displaying a rusty "lip" that forms outside of the brake pad sweep.

There are lots of threads on this forum describing all too frequent front wheel bearing failures with these vehicles. The good news is that they're easy to replace, the bad news is if yours are OEM. You'll never find an aftermarket set that lasts as long as the originals. Also note that sometimes these bearings fail due to water intrusion through the "hub clutch seal" which is poorly designed and can fail and leak water. However, the bearings will fail without getting wet as well.

Good luck.

 

[37ford]

Yeah, I just changed the wheel hub bearing assemblies. 85k miles, and I don't even want to talk about the headache of deciding on which new brand to buy.

The car is my wife's, and I don't drive it every day. I did drive it about 300 miles over the weekend and didn't hear a noise. I got in tonight and drive it about 20 miles, and it made the noise every time I turned fairly hard.

I have no idea if I have the eLSD rear diff. I'm pretty sure the noise is coming from the front because I can feel it in the steering wheel.

Also, I removed the front drive shaft when trying to diagnose the wheel bearing noise in order to eliminate the front diff as the culprit. I have yet to put it back on.

 

[JohnSC]

I get a noise similar to what you are describing when mine is in 4H and I am on dry pavement. Change it to 4A or 2H and the noise goes away.

Likely this is perfectly normal, the drive system does not have enough slippage to avoid that and the tires are slipping on the pavement. If it is wet or you are on gravel or turf the noise will not happen as the tires have enough slip.