High freq vibration and whine

[Mark K 2]

Job 2 4x4. 130,000 miles. Just drove 40 miles and the whine and high-freq vibration in the floorboards and steering wheel has me stumped. First noticed it four days ago. I jacked up the front. Wheel bearings are tight. Shocks were new 10,000 miles ago. Steering parts and ball joints are less than 15,000 miles old. I notice it starting at 31 mph and there's a faint whine that varies with road speed above that speed. Brakes are good. No dragging when manually rotating the raised front wheels. Half axles are quiet and relatively tight. Steers straight and even. The tires are 10,000 miles old. It sounds like road noise. It sounds like it's coming from the left front.



Any guesses?

 

[Rick Kent]

Hub bearing. When you turn left of right does the vibration/humming stop or lessen?

 

[Mark K 2]

Hub bearing. When you turn left of right does the vibration/humming stop or lessen?

Nope.



I'm starting to think it's a U-joint, but there's no clunking.

 

[Mark K 2]

Mechanic took it for a drive. He thinks it's a very early wheel bearing failure. It's up on the hoist at the moment.

 

[Mark K 2]

Four separate mechanics drove my truck and they had trouble determining the problem. I cringed when they brainstormed a front differential problem (potentially a $4000 repair). Then they put it on the hoist and "drove" it in the air. That's when they all figured it out: Early left front wheel bearing failure.



So they're replacing the wheel bearing with a Moog part, repairing an oil leak, doing a front end alignment, changing the oil, cleaning the engine, and rotating the tires. All for $500. Whew.

 

[Rick Kent]

Nope.



I'm starting to think it's a U-joint, but there's no clunking.

Glad it was nothing more than the hub bearing. It should last another 130K but you will probably be replacing the right side within 10-15k miles next.

 

[Mark K 2]

Got my truck back. Both wheel bearings were bad. Replaced with Moogs.