cookj

I'm hoping somebody can help me out here. About 5 weeks ago, I spent all day in the driveway rebuilding the front end. My truck is a supercrew, with a 5.4, auto tranny and 3.73 gears; mileage is 166K. With exception to the axle shafts, everything has been replaced (ball joints, hub bearings, t-rods, sway links, etc.). The half shafts looked and felt good so I did not mess with them. I took truck for alignment the next day and everything has been good up until about 2 weeks ago. I normally drive with the windows down but it was raining pretty hard so had to roll them up; this is when I realized there was a noise/slight vibration coming from the drivetrain. I haven't been able to pinpoint where but it is definitely in the drive train.


I'm sure this noise is there during acceleration but the engine is most likely drowning it out. However, at pretty much any speed or with the cruise control set, I can hear it, and, to some degree, can feel it through the steering wheel and the seat of my pants. If I had to compare it to something, it sounds like I'm running mud tires. It is really audible when coming to a stop or coasting.


So, this past weekend, I checked the fluid level in the t-case and both differentials. The levels were good at all three locations. The fluid color wasn't all that bad either, and, I did not see any evidence of moisture. I pulled the rear drive shaft and u-joints were moving freely with no bind; they are greaseless by the way and appear to be the originals. The drive shaft was reasonably straight and there were no weights missing. Before re-installing, I checked for play at the rear pinion and although there was some, it's what I would expect from a high mileage vehicle. I installed the drive shaft.


I haven't removed the front drive shaft, but, I cannot see any movement or wear at either u-joint; regardless, I plan to remove it and inspect this evening. I did determine that while in 2WD, I can spin the shaft by hand. In 4HI, the shaft is locked and rotates in Drive and Reverse. Also, with both front tires off the ground and truck in 2WD, the tire and half shaft turns independent of the opposite tire/shaft.


To rule out the tires, I had them road force balanced and rotated yesterday; as I expected, it wasn't the tires and the problem didn't go away. By the way, I am running 18" BFG's (E rated), and, while the truck was on the rack, we ruled out the hub bearings as being the culprit.


By the way, i've also ruled out that it is engine related, or any component of.


As stated earlier, I will yank out the front drive shaft and inspect this evening. If it looks as good as the rear drive shaft, and I do not discover any issues with the front differential, I'd like to hear from those of you that have had this issue or anyone that can suggest what my next move should be. Thanks a lot and sorry for the long post! James

cookj

I couldn't get back on this till this past weekend due to workload. Anyway, i decided not to remove the front drive shaft for a few reasons. Instead, I changed the front and rear gear lube. This did not improve anything. I looked harder at the CV joints and differential shafts and noticed there is some up-and-down and side-to-side movement on the driverside shaft of the differential; I'd say approximately 1/8". The passenger side has very little. Is this normal, or, can someone tell me if any movement is acceptable? I've tried to research on this and other forums but have had no luck. thanks

cookj

I put the truck on jack stands this past weekend and removed the hub bearings. The driverside was rough and had some water inside; the passenger side was in a little better shape but worn as well. A damn shame to have only gotten roughly 3 weeks out of these. I put the original "timkens" back on and all is good now. Gonna see about getting my money back on these.

lewissa81

That sucks man. What brand were the "new" ones?

cookj

I bought them off ebay and Detroit Axle is the manufacturer. I will look again, but, I did not see any stencil or any engraving on either bearing indicating origin; most likely they are from China or other foreign country. I talked to customer service yesterday and the lady said that with a $100 deposit and $15 dollars shipping she would send me another pair. I told her that was crazy because I only paid $94 for the bearings, and, I was only interested in a refund. Because I was beyond 30 days of the purchase, she said I could not receive a refund. I asked to speak with someone other than she and was on hold for 25 minutes before I was disconnected. Gonna try again today and post the outcome of my discussion.

lewissa81

Don't bother trying again. The reason I asked is because I gave them a shot also, and both of mine were bad out of the box. When I called them, the lady transfered me to a guy (I think his name was Bob, and it took about 30 min). He said I had to deposit half the cost of a new pair, pay for shipping, and their technician would inspect the hubs. If they were indeed bad, I would get a refund of my deposit. He then proceeded to "explain" that most bearing fail prematurely due to installation errors, and that I had probably over torqued the spindle nut. I told him that this truck doesn't have a spindle for the bearing to rest on, and asked what they recommended the axle nut be torqued to. He said it's normally around 250 ft-lb's, so I explained that this model is recommended by Ford to be torqued to 20 ft-lb's (I have an 04). He had been getting increasingly angry and said that I under torqued them causing the bearings to fail early, so I shouldn't expect anything. I just thanked him for his time, hung up, and put my old bearings back on.
I've used a few of their products in Jeeps and never had an issue. But that guy's attitude killed it for me. I didn't pay a lot for the set, and didn't expect much, but this was ridiculous. That's the short version, which is being kind.

cookj

Man, I just got off the phone with them and I bet I was speaking with the same guy but never got a name. I got the exact same feedback as you!! I said there was no way in hell I was going to give him a deposit and leave it up to them to tell me why these things failed in less than 1000 miles. What really ticked me off was when he indicated that since both were shot simultaneously, it could very well be the installation and not the quality of the part. Being as professional as I could, I let him know what I thought about that comment. After a little more back and forth, I said if I did anything, I would pay the $15 shipping to have them inspect and if the outcome was what I am expecting, it would be a cold day in hell before I'd buy another set. What a joke. I was hesitant about ordering these because of the great price but figured it would only amount to a couple of hours of my time to replace should they fail prematurely.