Okay, Saturday I purchased a 2005 F-150 Supercrew 4x4 89,000 miles. I drove it 30 miles or so and all of a sudden at 60MPH I hear this massive loud screeching, grinding sound coming from the front end (left front wheel). I immediatly start to pull off the road. As I decelerate-i notice a vibrating hum coming from my floorboard...as if something was engaged in the front end. Then as I come to an almost dead stop I hear a loud "thunk"(as if something in the front end "dis-engaged") I drive off and the noise is gone and the humming, vibrating noise is gone. This problem occured 3 more times on my 130 mile trip while driving at hwy speeds 65-70. Every time it happened i had to come to a complete stop...listen for the "thunk" sound and then I would be good for a few miles. I can't make it do the same thing around town of course I've only driven it for three days. The good news is the dealership I bought it from said they would fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

My truck is doing the exact same thing. Mine has 170,000 on it. I am stuck in a motel 200 miles from home until I get this figured out. I am afraid something major will break if I keep driving the truck.

 

yes it does sound like your IWE's..... here is a way around it to drive the truck back without hurting it..... you have 2 options:
1. drive in 4wd
2. unplug your IWE vacuum lines. this will allow your IWE to keep the hub engaged to the axle, but if your transfer case will remain in 2wd.

ultimately the best is to drive in 4wd until it is fixed. if not, you could destroy an IWE, or HUB, or both. the cause of this could either be a faulty IWE solenoid, or the actual IWE itself.

 

one of the techs at the Ford dealership in Kingsland GA did just that so I could make it home. He unplugged the vacuum lines and plugged them off. This allowed me to make it home. He said the new Warn hubs do not need the vacuum. It did not correct the problem but it calmed it down a bit. All help is greatly appreciated. Thanks mattd17

 

My passenger side was doing the same thing. I found a spot in the vacuum line down by the exhaust manifold where it was rubbing, and wore a hole. I would recommend getting a hand operated vacuum pump and checking for leaks before you go and replace the IWE's. It could be a simple fix.

 

I hate to sound stupid but what does IWE stand for and what is it?

 

Integrated Wheel End. I'm not sure how they work...All of the Ford's I've owned up until now have had manual hubs and the good old reliable shifter on the floor. I don't understand why it is such a hassle for people to turn hubs in and pull up on a shifter to get a vehicle in 4 wheel drive.

You don't sound stupid man. I wouldn't expect anyone to know how these newer 4x4 systems work. It's all new to me and it pisses me off that my 94 f250 (158,000mi) has a more reliable 4x4 system than my 2005 F150 (89000mi)

 

IWE works like this:
basically they are what joins the axle to the hub for 4wd, and then disconnects them for 2wd. they operate on vacuum. they have a spring inside them to keep them extended (engaged/4wd), and the vacuum will overcome the spring pressure to compress the IWE (disengaged/2wd). with the engine running in 2wd, you are applying vacuum to the IWE, and when you shift to 4wd, the IWE solenoid (behind the battery) will shift and divert the vacuum so the IWE doesnt get any, and the spring then takes over. the transfer case will also shift and allow the front drive shaft to turn.

with the engine secured, you wont be able to reach in and turn the axles..... the IWE will engage the hub to axle just as if you switched to 4wd. then if you start the engine back up, in 2wd you will be able to reach in and spin then. you shouldnt feel any binding, which would indicate either a faulty IWE, a loss of vacuum to the IWE, or possibly just a plugged vent line to the IWE. if you look at the vacuum lines going to the IWE, you will notice 2 lines together.... the larger line is the vacuum line, and the smaller is just a vent so the IWE can actuate..... it is possible that these get plugged and cause IWE problems.

a brand new IWE only requires about 5" of vacuum to fully compress..... and at idle, i measured about 21" from the engine to the hubs (plenty of vacuum to actuate even a slightly stiff IWE).

im pretty familiar with the IWE's since i had to replace both of mine last winter. as mentioned above, a hand vacuum pump will tell you if the IWE itself is bad or not. simply apply vacuum directly at the IWE and see if it holds. you may see a slight leak, but IIRC the acceptable leak down is no more than 1" per minute.

i hope this helps shed some light for you..... feel free to ask if you need any more help !!!

 

Thank you matt for clearing that up for me. As stated before, my truck was groaning at different intervals along with a pop. I disassembled the front hub to find the bearings in the hub assembly looked worn, the inner and outer seals were falling apart as well. Also, I noticed where the outer seal had broken off and a piece of it was just hanging there. I went and bought a new hub assembly ($400) and inner/outer seals ($60) for the axle. When I pulled the axle out (passenger side) and shined a flashlight in the tube, there was a good bit of dirt in it. I cleaned all of it out with a vacuum cleaner.

Is there any tricks that you can slide me to putting this thing back together?

Thanks!

 

Mine is doing this too... crap.

 

Mine has been doing this for about a week now. Took it to the local dealer monday. Dealer gave it back to me today. About ten miles later after picking it up, it starts making the noise again but on the other side!!!!!

 

OK, I am fine with disconnecting hoses and blocking off and leaving transfer case in 2wd while hubs are locked, even on hard surface highways, even at highway speed.

But to place the truck in 4wd? Would that not lock the front and rear driveshafts to the same speed, and hubs engaged, would that not create a bound up driveline as no way the front and rear axles turn same speed whole trip, for even if you got the inflated radius the same, if loading was same, same wear on tires, the front still travels further on any but a steraight line.

I know this is not something I'ld do with my '77 and locked hubs and P205.

Tell me what I'm missing?

The transfer case doesn't have a differential between front and rear drive shaft outputs does it? If so, what locks it so only rear gets powerr in 2wd?

I've never been into one of these newer ones.

 

Okay I went to my dealership Saturday, they replaced the IWE solenoid and performed a vacuum test on the Vacuum lines.(no leaks) So far so good!

 

are you still getting grinding noise?

 

The grinding noise is gone after replacing the actual hub assembly and the two seals (not the hub locks). The bearings in the hub assembly were freezing up, and that was the screeching and grinding sound i believe. Furthermore, there was mud in the axle tube that I carefully cleaned out with a home made extension for the shop-vac.

Hopefully my problems are over until the other side goes out.