Bad Hub?? Help Please!
Hello, I drive a 2006 F150 with 117,000km. I have this humming, growling sound coming from front of vehicle, pretty sure left side. I can feel the vibrations thru the pedals and floor as well in steering wheel a bit. It has been going on for a few months now but comes and goes. Just recently it has been worse and more frequent. Below are the symptoms:
-worse while slow, mostly goes away at high speeds.
-goes away when turning left or even veering left, but not right.
-seems worst while just coasting and still happens in neutral.
-goes away completely in 4x4.
-sounds fine at rest.
-didn’t happen this morning till about 10 min into drive, about -5C at night.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have done a tone of research and from what I can gather it sounds like maybe the front hub? Does this make sense that in 4x4 it goes away? I have replaced bad bearings before and the noise sounded rougher and got worse with speed, where my noise is worse at low speeds and coasting.
Thanks in advance for any help!!
Matt
-worse while slow, mostly goes away at high speeds.
-goes away when turning left or even veering left, but not right.
-seems worst while just coasting and still happens in neutral.
-goes away completely in 4x4.
-sounds fine at rest.
-didn’t happen this morning till about 10 min into drive, about -5C at night.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have done a tone of research and from what I can gather it sounds like maybe the front hub? Does this make sense that in 4x4 it goes away? I have replaced bad bearings before and the noise sounded rougher and got worse with speed, where my noise is worse at low speeds and coasting.
Thanks in advance for any help!!
Matt
Originally Posted by Rutager
Hello, I drive a 2006 F150 with 117,000km. I have this humming, growling sound coming from front of vehicle, pretty sure left side. I can feel the vibrations thru the pedals and floor as well in steering wheel a bit. It has been going on for a few months now but comes and goes. Just recently it has been worse and more frequent. Below are the symptoms:
-worse while slow, mostly goes away at high speeds.
-goes away when turning left or even veering left, but not right.
-seems worst while just coasting and still happens in neutral.
-goes away completely in 4x4.
-sounds fine at rest.
-didn’t happen this morning till about 10 min into drive, about -5C at night.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have done a tone of research and from what I can gather it sounds like maybe the front hub? Does this make sense that in 4x4 it goes away? I have replaced bad bearings before and the noise sounded rougher and got worse with speed, where my noise is worse at low speeds and coasting.
Thanks in advance for any help!!
Matt
-worse while slow, mostly goes away at high speeds.
-goes away when turning left or even veering left, but not right.
-seems worst while just coasting and still happens in neutral.
-goes away completely in 4x4.
-sounds fine at rest.
-didn’t happen this morning till about 10 min into drive, about -5C at night.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I have done a tone of research and from what I can gather it sounds like maybe the front hub? Does this make sense that in 4x4 it goes away? I have replaced bad bearings before and the noise sounded rougher and got worse with speed, where my noise is worse at low speeds and coasting.
Thanks in advance for any help!!
Matt
Its most likely your IWE solenoid.(and maybe the hubs) When it rains, water from your cowl drips down on the solenoid and tends to short them out (common on 04-08). Ford has come out with a replacement that has a rain cover on it. I replaced mine for $25. Since the 4WD is engaged by releasing the vacuum system, when the solenoid goes bad the vacuum isn't holding the hubs "out" with enough pressure causing them to try to go into 4WD even if you don't want it too. By switching to 4WD the noise stops because they engage fully(to my understanding). I had to replace my hubs (and switch) because the grinding caused them to wear out and they wouldn't engage at all. Hated to find all this out back in December when we got 7in of snow/ice. Hope this helps.
Its most likely your IWE solenoid.(and maybe the hubs) When it rains, water from your cowl drips down on the solenoid and tends to short them out (common on 04-08). Ford has come out with a replacement that has a rain cover on it. I replaced mine for $25. Since the 4WD is engaged by releasing the vacuum system, when the solenoid goes bad the vacuum isn't holding the hubs "out" with enough pressure causing them to try to go into 4WD even if you don't want it too. By switching to 4WD the noise stops because they engage fully(to my understanding). I had to replace my hubs (and switch) because the grinding caused them to wear out and they wouldn't engage at all. Hated to find all this out back in December when we got 7in of snow/ice. Hope this helps.
What Bluebullet said. Just had the exact same problem with my 07 FX4. It was the solenoid. I got it for about the same price.
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I've experienced a similar situation with my 06, The vacuum line between the iwe solenoid and the hubs had been comprimised by it's proximity to the battery. found the leak repaired it and all is well.

