Recently, I have heard a loud grinding/popping noise when turning sharply to the left. It normally only happens after the truck has been driven for several miles. I hear no noise until I turn sharply, but it is very loud when it happens. I had a friend listen to it and he agreed that it is coming from the passenger side tire area. We jacked the truck up and did a couple of quick tests on the joints to see if it was one of them, but they all appeared to be good. (upper and lowers and tie rod ends.) I am thinking it might be the hub assembly going bad, but I am not sure. My truck is 2wd so I know that means the hub assembly is one piece with the rotor.

Here is a video with the sound it makes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3BqWsNcps

 

I had the same problem on my 04 2wd for the longest time. I had the upper ball joints replaced, the hubs replaced, and had the whole front end inspected but the dealer couldn't find the problem. So I took it to a local shop, had a re-alignment done for $50 and the noise magically went away. I still have no idea what it was but it's been noise free for 3 months. Hope this helped in some way

 

my guess would be lower control arm ball joint. Mine made a very similar sound going over speed bumps..

also take a wrench to everything to make sure its all tight.

 

I am pretty sure its not the joints, but I could be wrong. Also, I have had it aligned so I doubt that's the cause.

 

Anyone else have an idea?

 

Inner tie rods perhaps? I'm battling a popping sound during certain turns and bump entries on mine and that's all that's left to try. :o

 

BAD lower ball joint. the popping is a "dry socket". all the grease in the joints has dried out. the joint will still appear good when doing the "wiggle" test, but it is not. FYI even aftermarket joints with grease fitting can do it occassionally if you fail to grease them periodically.

 

Turns out it was a bad hub assembly. The lower ball joints are low but they werent the cause.

 

Hub assembly as in wheel bearing?

 

Yes, the front hub assembly is all one piece with the wheel bearing and the rotor on the 2wd trucks. So its all one piece they have to replace.

 

How did yours sound while driving? I'm trying to figure out my noise.

 

+1 on the wheel bearings. Mine was making that exact noise, only while moving and turning sharply. I replaced both front rotor/wheel bearing assemblies (just finished today) and noise is gone. The big clues are one, it doesn't do it just sitting still and turning the wheels; two, it pops faster if you're rolling faster and slower if you're moving slower. So it obviously has to be something that rotates with the wheel. Being a 2wd, the only thing that does that is the wheel bearing. It's crazy how loud it pops and sounds nothing like a bearing (to me anyway) but it is.

I bought my truck a year ago with 130k on it and the side that was actually bad (passenger) had obviously been replaced not long ago. The driver side was still original and just replacing it did not fix the problem. I'm hoping the early failure was due to improper installation. The spindle nut must be replaced and has a torque of 296 ft-lbs. This is an easy job to DIY, but make SURE you get a 300+ ft-lb torque wrench to do it!!! I borrowed one from work because no auto parts places had one above 250. If you don't torque that nut right you will not get the right load on the bearing. Even if you take it somewhere, make sure they replace the nut and don't just hammer it down with an impact or you'll be back.

 

I'm trying to help a friend of mine replace his rotor/hub on a 2WD 2003 F150.

I realize the rotor/hub is a single unit....... I also realize the hub portion contains bearings/seals. So if you buy a new unit (Ford, Wagner, or whatever) are the bearings/seals installed or do you have to purchase them separate and install them.

Thanks for any info!!
(I realize this is in 2004-2008 forum area but I figure it's the same as what is being discussed here.)

 

I'm not sure, but I think 2004 is the first year they made the rotor/wheel bearing one piece. The 2003 probably still has the old style tapered roller bearings that are not pressed into the rotor (I could be wrong though). To answer your other question, when you buy the new rotor for the 2004+ models, the bearing is already pressed in and ready to go. Some people prefer to reuse the rotors (or buy new ones without the bearings) and press out the old bearings and buy aftermarket bearings as replacements, but if you want to make it easy just buy the assembly.

 

Check out Stealth's post. Yours might be the same problem.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/4730011-post71.html

Good luck!