If it's in the wrong place, move it for me, Mods, and lemme know where it went.

---

I want to say I've diagnosed it to the right rear wheel bearings. Poor Awesome.

Sorta a moaning wrowrowrowrowrowr sound that is worse when 'diving' to the right, and less when 'diving' to the left, but constant at all times now. Noticeable at 40-60, seems to be less at 65-70 (where we cruise on the I-10 from Hwy-6 on out to San Antonio.

*SEEMS* to be coming from the right rear. Harder to tell for sure as I'm driving it, but I'm pretty sure.

I'm gonna jack it up tomorrow and check it out.

BUT... I'm getting confused... is it me, or are all four hubs the same assembly, for replacement? I.e., Ford part numbers:
4R3Z-1147-B... Hub assy
F3LY-3B477-A... Hub nut/washer
F1Vy-1N135-A... Seal Cap

Will fit any corner of the car? Yes? No?

I've heard that TIMKEN Part # HA590017 is also a good thing to get in this case.

Thanks in advance... and yes, I did a search, both here, and with Google. Only found the front bearing replacement thing, here:
https://themustangsource.com/f669/ex...el-hub-449999/

/good grief... 221 lb-ft... sheesh.
//But... excepting that... it seems *really* easy to do...

 

Ok, maybe I prattled on a bit, but the questions:

Are they all the same?

Is the Timken any good?

Did I diagnose it right enough or...?

Thanks in advance!

 

fronts have hubs, make the noise you describe...rear has wet axle bearings, last >100k typically, fronts, not so long...

 

The front and rear have two different bearings. Yes timkin bearings are top quality as far as I know...... I know a little. Autozone lists them as two different bearings front to back.

 

my right front needs swapped this winter, its starting to hum a little turning one way or the other... timken are good afaik, but the design in general is pretty poor compared to the oldschool bearings...Ive got a link to a (not recommended) disassembled hub, they are kinda a junky bearing, with ***** rolling on low grade races, look more like a conveyor bearing than a 'real' bearing in the old school tapered rollers.

I got a timken hub for the wifes truck off ebay for half what the local store wanted for their cheapest chinese one...although these days, wouldnt be suprised if it came from china too...

 

if you get the wheel off the ground, spin it, usually youll hear the hum, and rocking the wheel youll feel the slop.

look for cupped tires though- they can sound exactly like a bad front hub when driving

 

I would say jack it up and chack for any kind of play. Top to bottom, left to right and inward/outward play

 

I'm an idiot. I was reading about the fronts all this time. Meh. I was totally gettin' mah hopes up, and not being careful about my eyes screwin' me up again.

Iihs explody view clearly shows the axleshaft as normal:
http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=93&viewfile=Axle Shaft.pdf

So that is that. Extract shaft, take to shop, press off, press on, install.

If it's them. I'll have to get her off her feet and check. Now I'm not so sure. Tires are close to time to get replaced, but... sure doesn't sound like that...

Thanks all. 'Preciate it. Sorry I'm teh dum sometimes...

 

can you see any oil leaking out back there.... whoa that sounds a bit personal lol

 

rear bearings fail slowly, usually starts showing with either a oil leak, or abs light intermittent over bumps... but replacing isnt a press on thing- the axles just slip out, the 'inner bearing ring' dont exist- the rollers ride directly on the axle itself, and if worn, usually means new axle...

I put rears in my '89 mark VII at about 145k, the axles were worn, was getting a abs fault once in a while, axle would wobble enough(not much- maybe .010" but a lot for a bearing) to give faults and started loosing a little oil... Timken makes a 'repair bearing' with a integral seal, it effectively moves the bearing out to the relatively unworn seal area, costs a little more than a normal bearing, but cheaper than axles...

if your tires are close to used up, betcha the insides are cupped a little- the sawtooth wear pattern gets worse fast once it starts, and will howl just like a bad bearing, even with the steering direction changing the noise, but not due to bearing load, just rubber deflection. its easy to see though, just rub your hand around the inner tread shoulder both ways- cupping looks/feels like a circular saw blade tooth at each tread block.

rear bearings are usually only ever noted with oil leakage, fronts are sealed hubs, get noisy and loose pretty often, the outer 'races' are just the hubs, no hardened/ground rings like in old school bearing assemblies. heres a link to some pics of how cheap the new sealed units are inside- pretty junky as bearings go:
http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/must...-analysis.html

 

Yeah, I was lookin' and... it looks like maybe the right rear is exhibiting a little cupping on the inside. Definitely the left outside is. Tires are next anyway, so I guess I'll do that and see what happens... and when it's up in the air, I'll shake 'em about.

Is that a Pirelli thing, or is it all tires? I can't remember any tire makin' THAT much noise when it was close, but not quite, worn and done... Then again, this is my first fully worn and done set on the car. The previous were taken out by a knife thanks to some dang hoodlums pranking the entire neighborhood... real funny, jerks.

 

future tire tip. Get a tread depth gauge and check your depth every couple of months, adjust your tire pressure according to your tread depth results

 

Ok, well, as noted above, I had new tires to get, so I got me some of these:
http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Perfo...EON-RS3-A.aspx
I have to mention I bought them from Discount Tire Direct, and lemme tell ya, not a better experience in the actual purchase. Discount Tire is just fantastic peoples. Y'all may have your favs, but they're mine.

They got here yesterday, today I got them mounted this morning.

I did some research and they all *seem* to be positive. Roush uses the non -A summer tires on their Mustangs, I understand. Figured if those are what they like, and the reviews I've seen on the -As, I should have made a good enough decision.... but hey, people love/hate all kinds of tires, right? Hard to say what I'll like until I have them... except Michelin, they can bite me. Hate Michelin. Hate.

(Don't tell me Cooper has anything to do with Michelin, please. It'd kill me. )

I like them so far, have a good lookin' pattern, grip good in this gawdawful drizzly crap that's hanging around, making the streets a mess... the worn out Pirelli P-Zero Neros would have been treacherous, these are really good so far, even as green as they are. I've been ziggin' about testin' them when I can, and as wet and nasty as the ground is, they're just keepin' traction. So... uh, good.

They also seem to be rather quiet, and *supposedly* they'll wear nice. We shall see.

If there's negative about them, I'll hear it, but... whatever, I have them now, and that's that until they're done in hopefully another 40K.

---

I asked the shop to align it, but lo and behold the left side tie rods are shot. Dangit. Right ones are good, nice and no movement whatsoever.

So I'll have to do those, no big, I can fix that, and get it aligned after. No real big, just a weekend thing to do...

---

...except that the noise that this thread was about, well... it's still there. Tires weren't it. Aw.

Yep, it's the rear axle bearings. It's indeterminate which though. We're all leaning 'right', but one says 'left', so... frak it. Do 'em both.

I have now acquired a left side set of Moog inner/outer tie rods (but to read things, it's the same for both sides, so...), two National bearing and seal sets, and 2 quarts (1.8927L) of Royal Purple 75W-140 gear oil in the trunk, got them tonight. I'll have them installed tomorrow. I read the axle needs about 1.7 litres of fluid, so this should work out right, I think. I'd do it, but I really don't feel like playin' with messy gear oiled parts. And I don't have a bearing puller/slide hammer anyway, so there's that.

IF any of yous guys has any issues/pointers/whatever, I'd appreciate any info, but I'm gonna guess that no matter what, it's all goin' in and I'll be done.

---

I *do* find it weird that they're goin' out. Seems like they shouldn't, but... She's got 77250ish on her... didn't see any leaks or such while she was on the rack gettin' the tires off, so I'm a bit puzzled. But hey, itssa Fix Or Repair Daily...

/Issa car, stuff happens.
//Imma have to do the throttle body again too, but that's a "me" job. That I can do.

 

does RP still need the 'friction modifier' additive? I left it out of my Mark VII and a few days later it started clunking/chirping the inside tire at every corner till I added it in.

keep in mind, the wheel bearing rollers on the 8.8 ride directly on the axle shaft- they have no inner ring, if a bearing fails, its likely a coin toss as to if it harmed the axle bearing surface. Like I'd mentioned on my Mark, I got a timken 'repair bearing' with integral seal that moves the rollers out to the less worn old seal location...cheaper than a axle, something to keep in mind just in case. I would ask them to mic the axle where the rollers ride, just so you can track wear if you ever have to go in again. mine were both worn kinda hourglasslike about .010"

I think the bulk of the noise on my mark's rear was from the rust on the abs sensor wheel rubbing the sensor due to the bearing allowing it to move around

on the Michelin hate- why? I am almost afraid to ask, as I just bought a set of their LTX M/S2 tires for the wifes truck, they were one of the highest rated I could find, hadnt heard anything bad about Michelin in a long time... sounds like you had a bad experience with them, just curious as to what happened. only really horrid experience Ive ever had with tires was the goodyear wrangler hp's that came on the wifes truck, had two belts break, one in a sidewall, one in the tread, both made a huge bulge in the tires that shook worse than a flat, and the tread cupped out really bad, they howled on the highway... heard they are a popular tire, but we had no luck with them- in their defense I didnt rotate them as often as I should have, and sure that avalanche is a heavy vehicle...
I had Comp T/A's on my Mark VII, replaced them the first time they wore out with same, and in 10k miles had cord showing on all 4...never again.
I got Riken Raptors from Summit on my mustang, they are supposedly made by a michelin owned plant - but overseas. Good job on your tires, in finding a USA made set- thats hard to do...they look good, ratings Ive read sound good too.

 

RE: Royal Purple... at least the stuff I got, has the modifier in it. Perhaps you used the wrong weight? I used the Synchromax in the transmission to a much better effect than the original stuff for the shifting, so that's why I went with it for this. I'll let you know if there's any issues with it.

---

RE: Michelin.. They are, for me, in every instance, the hardest riding, least gripping, worse in the rain, longest lasting, will dry rot before they wear out tire I've ever seen. You pay dearly for, what is again for me, a really bad tire. Oh, sure, they *wear* fantastically. But they don't work worth a flip. Worst tires ever.

I switched from Michelins to BFG Touring TAs on my Mark VII, and did the same thing on my Mark VIII. I actually convinced my old boss, who was a Michelin *fanatic*, to switch out of them after he tried a set of BFGs on the Mark VIII. They were the perfect tire for that car, bar none, and they weren't that expensive either. The only problem was you usually had to special order them.

Every car that had them, when you got just about *any* other tire on the car, that car magically transformed into a hugely improved car.

But darn it all, you just couldn't go 80,000 miles on those tires.

That's me. If you like them, fine, but you did ask...

As far as cord showing on the Comp T/As... weren't really made for that car, so that sorta makes sense. I dunno what the load rating was you might have used, but there was probably something to do with that, and the heaviness of the Mark vs a Mustang. Just a guess... or maybe the T/As suck. I haven't had need of those tires, so I can't really comment on their goodness.

 

Now then, just because I feel it's important to post special about it separately....

The rear axle bearing on the right side was indeed shot. It *did not* eat the housing or the axle. They were practically new looking. But the bearing didn't want to come out... they had to cut it apart to get it out of the axle housing. So yeah, it was definitely the one makin' the noise. The left side bearing came right off, it was probably ok, but again, since we were there, did 'em both.

The pinion and ring gears looked *fantastic*. There was no metal in the drained oil or remaining on the cover. She looked brand new in there.

The Royal Purple was a *pain it the butt* for the man to put in there... who designs the fill plug anyway... He got it in, but... he was probably just being ornery and not wanting to find his pump or something.

The growl is GONE. I'm very elated that the diagnosis was correct, and we caught it in time.

The left side outer tie rod was the only one that needed replacing. Car was aligned and she steers really nice, and drives *straight* as an arrow.

So mah Awesome is awesome again. It's like a whole other car! Only not...

---

Now, as to the Cooper Zeon RS3-A 235/55 R17 99Ws?

*Frellin' Fantastic*. I could not be happier with the choice I made, even though it's only been these last two days of driving.

It's made in China though. It's a USA company, but the tire is made in China, says so right on the carcass. Which is sorta a shame in that it woulda been nice to have USA product... just gettin' harder to find that unless it's Facebook or something.

However, it was bought by me, and I bought it from an American company in Discount Tire Direct, and was designed by an American company in Cooper, so there's a little $ going to the US, right?

Ahem... enough geopolictiking... lemme say this:

THESE ARE THE BEST TIRES EVER MADE.



It has been *dreadful* weather these last two days. Particularly today. Wet, slick, nasty.

I cannot break these things loose. And I have purposely TRIED. They just want to stick to the road, even in the *pouring* rain.

I have been very naughty today in her. Ramming around in the rain, splashing puddles, just doing everything to explore the wet traction limits, and I've not yet really found any.

Also, the tread is very nice looking, and the tire looks so very *right* on the car. I dunno, it just looks... meatier? More muscular? Whatever, they're nice lookin' meats.

I *highly* recommend them... today. After 10K miles, we'll see what I think about them, and when they're done, we'll have a good idea, but right now? Green?

Heck yeah. Buy 'em.

/She's like a whole new car!
//I think I might've said it twice... whatever, she's spectacular handling now! Love the results.

 

thanks for the info-
on my Mark, I shoulda mentioned I didnt use RP, just the standard diff oil- it needed the modifier added... I LOVE the improvement in shifting the mustang with the RP oil- incredible stuff.

on the tires, my 89 mark had the comp ta vr4 standard, but they are way soft, and being 16" a bit rough riding...I changed to the regular old BFG T/A radials in 15" on Centerline wheels, loved the look, and the ride was immensely better. I think Ive bought at least (6) sets of regular old T/A radials, they are not expensive, and did well every time (but they dont make 17's or Id have them on my mustang- its a speed rating thing as to why they dont make them for newer mustangs...)

very glad to hear it was just a bearing and youre back in business- I drove mine yesterday for the first time in a month, its got problems- either alignment or a low tire, just dont feel right, not bad, but noticable after driving another car for a month...hope to get after it tomorrow, I need to fix the transmission and put a clutch in it before spring...

 

**** it my wheel bearing is making noise as well but it seems that it is coming from the front. How hard is it to DIY? What kind of price is the bearing?

 

I just replaced my wheels & tires last month, the car sounded like a 4x4 when I was driving but after installing the new tires & wheels it no longer roars.

Rick

 

re: How to...

As I've never done one before, I watched as they did mine, so I'd know. But while time consuming, done right, and well, a couple or 4 hours one person could do it... IF the bearings haven't ruined the axle housing requiring machining, and it's just straight up replacement of just the bearings.

Basically, it's this: Jack up car off ALL FOURS. Car must be level for refill.

Rip off wheels and the rear brakes, so that you're left with the axles sticking out. Brake calipers can just be hung in the area somewhere.

Then, you open up the cover of the differential and drain all the gear oil out. Leaving one at the top for the last, then just crack it a little, and the oil will come gushin' out.

Once that's done, you take the cover completely off, and scrape off all the sealant on the cover and axle housing. You want completely clean surfaces.

Inspect the pinion and ring gears. And also the oil, of course, for any shavings/weird wear. If it's bad, you can adjust things or replace the gears at this time (although you'd have to pull the pinion from the front, which is a whole other operation.)

If they're ok, no shavings, don't do anything. If there are shavings, you need to get rid of them, of course.

Here it gets a little fuzzy, but there's a pin you have to pull, and it has to be just so to do that. Without the pin pulled, there's no getting the rest of it out. There's then a weird 'S' clip in there you take out. Then you push in on one axle, and pull out the clip that's retaining that axle. Repeat for the other side.

The bearings are semi-pressed in the axles. If they've not spun in the axle, you can just replace the bearings. You can just pull them out, they're tight, but not overly so. You'll have to pry them or such, but they will ordinarily just come out. If they're being pills, you can cut them or soak them with PB Blaster or something. I heard this, I wasn't there to witness this part. They may be lying to me about how it's easy to do if it's not seized...

Once they're out, inspect the area they go in... if it's really messed up, you'll have to have the axle machined a little to then put in reinforced replacements. These have oversized sleeves to rebuild the axle, sorta, and the bearings are in them. I bought these at first, then I got learned on what's what. I told the O'Reilly people they should make a note of that, as their catalogs weren't really clear on this. Oh, and this is the part where 'by yourself' all of a sudden isn't, and what's worse... you're stuck with it at home. This would be the ONLY reason you wouldn't want to do this at home, unless you had a way to take the axle out and get it finished elsewhere, and just put it back in. (That's only the CV in front, and a couple of suspension bolts, and it's ready to be taken anywhere, right? )

If the area's ok, though, you can just tap in the new bearings straight in. Then reassemble the axles and the clips and all in the reverse order.

Put new sealant on the COVER ONLY. Don't get stupid, just a nice 1/8th inch wide bead around the mating surface, and inside the holes for the bolts. This sealant is a *one shot* type, meaning you stick it straight on right, or you take it off and start over. Do it right once.

After that, take out the fill plug and put in two bottles of the above gear oil, or your choice. It may not take the full second bottle, you should definitely CHECK THE LEVEL about 1/2-3/4 of that second bottle. More is not better, it'll puke out the vent, and that's messy as heck.

Put brakes back on, wheels back on, go drive.

You might wanna get a shop manual, or there's the online manual too:
http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=1

And there ya go. Do it! I would, now.