I heard the same for the wheel end nut. I used a 1/4" ratchet and hand snugged it.

The IWE I did just a hair tighter than the wheel end nut. Same 1/4" ratchet.

Wheel lug nuts - I have aluminum rims. I keep them under 90 ft lbs.

I re used my 2 nuts, they haven't seen much action lol

I still hear a faint grinding type noise when the weight of the truck shifts to the front, either going down hill, or braking.

 

Thanks to TN-F150 and a host of others I finally have my grinding noise fixed. Fingers crossed, of course. I actually describe mine as a buzzing sound. I first heard it from the left wheel going up a hill when I pushed on the gas pedal. After lots of reading and searching I replaced the solenoid because mine still had the original. I bought the truck used in Nov. 2012 with 86k miles. Replacing the solenoid seemed to work for a while but buzzing returned. Did some more reading and checked the check valves and sure enough, one was bad. Replaced both check valves, test drove and didn't hear any noise. Loaded up the truck with fishing equipment, trolling motor, suitcases, etc for a fishing trip with my boys to Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee two weeks ago and as soon as we hit the on ramp to the interstate, BUZZZZZZZ!!. I was less than pleased. Had to turn around and get a rental. After return home, I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a brake bleeder, vacuum checker kit for $23 and checked the vacuum at the IWEs. Right held like a champ and the drivers side wouldn't hold anything. Checked the forum again on how to replace the IWE and decided to order the Dorman replacement from Rockauto.com because they were half the price of the parts stores here in town even with shipping. Ordered on Monday, arrived on Wednesday. Took me about 2 hours total but I'm sure the next one won't be more than 1 hour. Had a little trouble wiggling the shaft end out of the control arm and wound up pulling the IWE off first which gave me clearance to get the shaft tip out. Slid the new IWE carefully over the shaft, stuck the shaft back where it came from, then lined up, seated and started the screw on the IWE. Stuck the shaft back in and bolted everything together and bingo, no noise. The old IWE was torn up with part of the rubber worn off and the spring sticking out. My advice to anyone just trouble shooting this issue is to pick up the vacuum tester, start at the IWE and work your way back. You should replace the solenoid anyway if it's the old one without the rain hood but since the IWE is the critical piece because of possible damage, start there and find out for sure. Total cost, including tools I had to buy for the job (21 mm socket, vacuum pump, etc.) was about $175 bucks. Still way cheaper than the local dealer. I was able to do it myself with a little help from the wife when putting the upper ball joint back in. Next one will only be the cost of the IWE which was $66.222 from Rockauto. God bless Rockauto. One more tip about re-installing the upper control arm ball joint. I saw a suggestion on another post about sticking a pry bar into the spring around the shock and pushing down to keep the ball joint bolt from turning while you put the nut back on. I did this and it worked like a charm. Knowing that would have saved me about 30 minutes trying to get it back together when I replaced the ball joint last month. Thanks to everyone on the forum. You guys have saved me a ton of money in the last couple months. I even did the dreaded plug/coil replacement because of the posts I read giving me the encouragement.

 

I have an update. And 1 problem still.

I replaced my drivers side wheel hub assembly and actuator months ago.
I had some faint grinding sounds afterwards, but it was way quieter than before the repairs.

I had to do as everyone here suggests, I replaced the passenger side wheel hub assembly the other day ( 5,000) miles after the drivers side.

When I am slowing down that faint grinding noise is still there. It is not a constant grind, it sounds like something is out of balance. The brakes I did last summer, but it almost feels like a warped rotor with the pulsating grinding sound.

Any ideas of what to check next? While I had the truck in the air, I tried to shake the front tires, no movement.

The only sound I get when on jack stands is when I spin the tires by hand, the front half shaft "clicks" but the sound may be coming from inside the front diff.

What kind of things get worn out when you drive around in 3 wheel drive?
I know it makes the noise when I turn right, I will see if it happens when I turn left later tonight.

 

What an awesome thread!! I have been getting ready to this repair since I bought my 2004 F150 a month or so ago.

Here is a video I have found on YouTube that runs through the whole repair in a shop the same way the OP did his. Looking forward to replacing both my IWE's this week.

 

That 290 ft-lbs is for the 2WD bearing nuts; a completely different design. If you try that on a 4x4 you are going to snap the end of the CV axle off.

 

I replaced both of my hub actuators to the tune of almost a grand. The drivers side actuator was grinding hard today. We had an ice storm, I used my 4x4, and this morning it started grinding hard. The driver's side actuator was a completely stripped out. I checked the passenger side, just for giggles, and it was toast too... It wasn't too bad of a replacement, but the price of the parts is ridiculous.

 

I haven't been here for a long long time but looking back I noticed the links were broken for the first post to documents.

Links fixed!

Carry on!