First off i am sixteen years old and i am new to the truck world so i am not familiar with the names of certain parts from reading previous threads.

i recently had the Fabtech 6" suspension kit put on my 07 4x4 f150. The first day i drove it there was a horrible grinding sound coming from the front end. a couple days went by and the loud grinding calmed down but there is a constant shaking/rattling sound coming from both sides of the front end. I recieved and email from fabtech saying i sould check the vacuum lines but i am not to sure what they are suppost to connect to. i will try to explain what i can see. Looking from the drivers side front end i can trace 2 lines coming from the hub. one looks like it is electrical and the other runs up near the ABS but connects to nothing. is this right and what should it connect to? and if anyone knows where to get the vacuum line diagram i would really appreciate it or if you could explain what it connects to.

thanks

 

That is probably the vacuum line that makes the IWE disconnect when in 2wd. The default position of the IWE is locked. At engine startup with the vehicle in 2wd, vacuum is sent to the hub and unlocking it. Sounds like when the lift was done the vacuum line was not reconnected or lengthened as needed. The grinding noise is the IWE, which probably means it is now toast and will need to be replaced.

 

This is the old ice in a blender issue. If you search that you will see the part number and how to fix. Had this on my 05 and fixed under warranty. Horrible sounding noise. If you switch to 4x4 mine went away....

 

if looking at the front of the truck where is the IWE located?

 

make sure your tires arent rubbing anywhere. if it is a consistent rub, like the tire's side lugs against the upper control arms, you will get a lot of shaking. most likely not your issue but check to to eliminate that possibility.

 

there is no rub of the tires but is the iwe located on the passenger side right behind the battery?

 

the vacuum line seems to be working properly. i can feel the air going through it and both ends. what else could it be?

 

The IWE is the hub of your front wheel. One on each side. The lock up when you put your truck into 4wd. Otherwise they are supposed to freewheel. As far as the vacuum line, it better be connected at both ends.

 

i checked the lines and they are both are conntected at both ends. could it possibly be the driveline?

 

A grinding from the front end is usually going to be the IWE. You state in your first post that the lines connect to nothing and the noise is coming from both sides. The only hose that connects to nothing is the vent line for the front differential. The vacuum line to the IWE need to hook up to a solenoid that will send vacuum in 2wd and stop sending it in 4wd.

 

whne it makes the noise throw it in 4wd and see if the noise stops - if so - it is the iwe.