 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Ford / Ford Explorer / May 2007"Clunk", my hub?
I'm driving a '97 Explorer. When driving up a slight rise at 40+, I'm hearing a "clunk" from underneath. Can occur several times climbing the hill. Like one rotating piece of metal catching up with another. Brought it to a mechanic to diagnosis the problem and he said it was probably something wrong with "the hubs". GOOGLING for hubs, I see several articles describing how to disassemble, clean, lube and re-assemble, but before doing that, I was wonder if the symptoms I'm describing could indeed be wheel hub problems. Do these symptoms sound familiar? - Mike > I'm driving a '97 Explorer. When driving up a slight rise at 40+, I'm > hearing a "clunk" from underneath. Can occur several times climbing [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > describing could indeed be wheel hub problems. Do these symptoms sound > familiar? - Mike My experiences with bad hubs on the earlier Exporers ('91 and '92) was they would clunk while turning, not while going straight. No problems yet with the hubs on my '97. I have read of problems with the transfer case fully engaging the front wheels due to a dirty sensor in the case and/or uneven tire wear. At least we can be pretty sure it's not bad radius arm bushings ;-) . I have read of problems with the transfer case fully >engaging the front wheels due to a dirty sensor in the case and/or uneven >tire wear. I have an interesting coincidence to report. Just today I ordered an OBC II reader. How would a dirty sensor be represented? - Mike > I'm driving a '97 Explorer. When driving up a slight rise at 40+, I'm > hearing a "clunk" from underneath. Can occur several times climbing [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > describing could indeed be wheel hub problems. Do these symptoms sound > familiar? - Mike 97's do not have engagable hubs as far as I know, they have a vaccume engaged coupling one side of the front axle. Check u-joints first. Jack >97's do not have engagable hubs as far as I know, they have a vaccume >engaged coupling one side of the front axle. Check u-joints first. > Jack Jack - I see elsewhere Dr. Bob's explaination on how to replace U-joints. What is the test to determine if indeed it's the U-Joints that are causing my 'clunk'? - Mike >> 97's do not have engagable hubs as far as I know, they have a vaccume >> engaged coupling one side of the front axle. Check u-joints first. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > U-joints. What is the test to determine if indeed it's the U-Joints > that are causing my 'clunk'? - Mike Easy way is to jack up one rear wheel and with the car in park try to turn it. If you feel /see a clunk when the driveshaft stops. Or just crawl under the car and try to turn the driveshaft, if it moves, replace the u-joints. Jack >Easy way is to jack up one rear wheel and with the car in park try to >turn it. If you feel /see a clunk when the driveshaft stops. >Or just crawl under the car and try to turn the driveshaft, if it moves, >replace the u-joints. >Jack Jack - Forgive me for not knowing the correct terms but that will improve shortly - I ordered the Service Manual and it will be in later this week. Tracking the torque backwards from the front wheels: two wheel axles meet at what could be described as a differential (but in the front), power is provided by a 3-4' drive shaft which connects this front 'differential' to the transmission. I assume a U-Joint where this drive shaft meet the transmission. When I hold the dome-shaped thing into which the U-joint is inserted and turn the drive shaft, I get play; not so at the front end, which is very obviously a U-joint. Am I correct in assuming there should be no play and that the joint that needs replacing? If someone can tell me the correct termanology for what I intend to do, I'll GOOGLE for the repair procedure - Mike >> Easy way is to jack up one rear wheel and with the car in park try to >> turn it. If you feel /see a clunk when the driveshaft stops. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > If someone can tell me the correct termanology for what I intend to > do, I'll GOOGLE for the repair procedure - Mike You seem to get it, there are 2 u-joints, one on each end of the driveshaft, plus a cv(constant velocity)joint in the middle of it. To check them, put the explorer in 4 wheel low, turn off the engine and check for free play. The manual is a very good idea, got mine from e-bay for 9.00$ from ebay on cdrom. In 2 wheel high, the driveshaft should spin freely. > The manual is a very good idea, got mine from e-bay >for 9.00$ from ebay on cdrom. Wow. Mine cost $160. When you say driveshaft we're both talking about to forward one, not the one that powers the rear wheels - Just checking. Let me GOOGLE for "constant velocity joint"; I may have another question.- Mike >You seem to get it, there are 2 u-joints, one on each end of the >driveshaft, plus a cv(constant velocity)joint in the middle of it. Hmmmm. We may have a disconnect. It appears the CV joints are on the forward axles. What I"m describing is the joint that fits into what I believe is the transfer case; a 'box' that is attached to the side of the xmission. - Mike >> You seem to get it, there are 2 u-joints, one on each end of the >> driveshaft, plus a cv(constant velocity)joint in the middle of it. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > believe is the transfer case; a 'box' that is attached to the side of > the xmission. - Mike Yep, my front driveshaft has a small rubber bellows covered section in the middle, figured it was another cv joint. Has U-Joints at both ends.
|
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.