Scary Moment of the Day...

[FordandPolaris]

So the last couple of days, I have had this awful sounding dragging noise from the front left of the expy. Thought maybe the caliper was hanging, so I thought I would investigate. Today was the first day I had off work since it started so I decided to pull the wheel. What I found was quite disturbing... I had just put new CV axles in over the summer and apparently the metal band that holds the boot in place had since broken and fell off. Consequently there was CV grease everywhere. Worse still, my wheel hub (also replaced over the summer the same time as the CV joints) was super loose. At first I thought that the bearing inside was shot, but further inspection turned up that the 3 bolts that hold it in place from the back were not doing their job. All 3 were horribly loose, and one was gone all together. Not sure if I did not tighten them down enough when I did the work on it this summer or if the grease loosened them up and allowed them to slowly turn their way out. Either way, I will be keeping a super close watch on them now. I was about to do a 5 hour drive to North Dakota this weekend, so I am glad I decided against it, as I most likely would have had major catastrophe on the way up...

As of now, I have to go to Ford on Monday and pick up a new bolt, and my tire has some wear on the inside tirewall, but aside from that, it seems that everything is okay. I will have to pull the CV joint and clean it though, which kind of sucks, but compared to what it could have been, I will take that any day. Stay safe out there!

 

[RollinKaos]

Good thing you found the problem and didnt lose a wheel in the middle of nowhere or worse in the middle of traffic.

 

[toms89]

110 to 148 lb/ft !! According to ford shop manual... Not likely they would have came loose if torqued accordingly.

Good thing you caught it before anything serious happened.



I can email you pdf file on hub replacement from ford shop manual if you wish.

 

[VexedEX]

Glade the worst of the worst didn't happen. Your smart to have checked some folks drive til the wheels fall off! Happy that you are safe and hope it will not give you anymore problems! Its a beautiful Full Size SUV!

 

[FordandPolaris]

110 to 148 lb/ft !! According to ford shop manual... Not likely they would have came loose if torqued accordingly.

Good thing you caught it before anything serious happened.



I can email you pdf file on hub replacement from ford shop manual if you wish.

Thanks tom, the hub itself is alright as far as I can tell. However thank you for those torque specs, those will come in handy. I tend to be a "just crank them as hard as you can and call it a day" kind of guy. But these suckers are definitely going to be put back in correctly and up to spec. I am going to make sure the other side is the same way, though thankfully when I checked them today they were still solid and in place.

Thank you Vexed and Rollin for the well wishes. Its a good thing I wasn't in a Chevrolet, or things could have been much worse...

 

[mindgame]

I tend to be a "just crank them as hard as you can and call it a day" kind of guy.

I'm exactly like that... Make sure that you use Loctite!!!

 

[1997SCEBFEX]

++ on discovery and sharing with everyone else should they have a similar experience.
funny how those things make us stop, think, inspect, and [sometimes] surprise. hopefully you'll get that bolt, get her back together and be problem-free from here on out.

PanHandler.

 

[FordandPolaris]

That's just it, I wanted to share just in case someone reads it and thinks "man my truck has been making a weird noise too." Hopefully it helps someone down the road, because it was about the last thing I expected to find...

 

[VexedEX]

Thanks tom, the hub itself is alright as far as I can tell. However thank you for those torque specs, those will come in handy. I tend to be a "just crank them as hard as you can and call it a day" kind of guy. But these suckers are definitely going to be put back in correctly and up to spec. I am going to make sure the other side is the same way, though thankfully when I checked them today they were still solid and in place.

Thank you Vexed and Rollin for the well wishes. Its a good thing I wasn't in a Chevrolet, or things could have been much worse...

Haha I'm a Chevy Girl at heart. Like a rock and lets not forget about Americas favorite sports car but all and all Ford was first to be and I do enjoy my Fords I've actually owned more Fords than Chevy's lol Currently enjoying my Blazer though I do miss that tough Expedition at times! Happy Rollin' on to ya!