hello all,

I'm at my whits end here. I've replaced both iwe, the solenoid, and checked the vacuum and all seem good. blew out the lines checked both check valves. everything works just as it should now. Thing is I'm still getting a, what sounds to me, bearing spinning noise only once or twice a trip.Its a very similar sound to the IWE's but i don't see how they are making noise now. It only happens when I am heading up a mildly steep hill in the highway and I'm at about 65-70 with maybe 1/3 1/2 throttle. If i tip into just a hair it will cause that noise. and it sounds like it coming from the rear. but my iwe, when clacking, sounded like it was coming from the cab too.

I was concerned maybe i burnt off the teeth on the bearing but on a wet day I took it out to a parking lot and did full lock turns and they do not slip what so ever. Just bucks like a bronco,and not the ford kind! Ha! so I'm not sure what to look at now. There are rare occasions it will do it while just driving down a flat road but I can't seem to make the sound appear. Its just so random. Also I do seem to have a lot of rear end noise when acceleration, When i let off the gas it gets much more quiet so i though maybe I'm spinning the pinion bearing but when i checked it, it seems to be fine other then a thunk when I'm shifting and slightly rolling from reverse to drive.

Also the rear universal joint was replaced sometime before i bought it as it has clips the front is still the stock crimped style but they both seem ok. they don't seem to have any play in them. so ???

any ideas from the experts? as I've exhausted my ideas.

 

Could be a U-joint out back or if your truck has two piece rear driveshaft like mine, could be driveshaft center support bearing.
Just something to check.

Also, how many miles and how well does your park brake work. Sometimes return springs rust, break ... or cables freeze .... and they drag until wore out.

EDITED: ..... Sam1947 reminded me, my '07 does NOT have a two piece rear d-shaft. It's my '77 that does however and I'm getting a noise out that way sometimes when starting out.

 

just putting this out their, its just random, but i once had what i thought was a bad bearing in the rear in 2 of my vehicles. it somewhat sound liked a ratcheting noise and wound up being loose lug nuts.

 

Hey that's worth checking! I did have a loose lugnut upfront.

Its just a single shaft, and has about 130k miles on it. Not sure I've checked the parking brake. Might tear that down and see what i find this weekend. Thanks for the ideas.

I also had the idea that maybe there is just not enough vacuum during this time which causes the IWE to contact the bearing just slightly. I'll see if i can find the vacuum rating of the IWE.

 

Hummm....Not to de-rail this thread 'tbear', but I wonder why you have a two piece drive shaft when I have a one piece and we have essentially the very same truck ??? Strange.....

 

Well crap .... .... you are so Right!

I guess I was thinking of my '77 F150 4x4, it does have a two piece rear and last year I replaced all 3 U-joints in the rear shaft and lately I have been hearing / feeling what I think is maybe the center support bearing that I should also have replaced.

 

I replaced the solinoid and wheel hub assy. on 1 side, and now i hear a new noise. I hear a Wah wah wah wah wah....as i'm driving.

Could I have done more damage some where else?

 

shodude, your original description sounds exactly like my truck (2006 scab 4x4 5.4). I checked everything too and can not figure out this random whirling, grinding, growling, "you name it" noise. I can't tell if it's the hubs, front diff, transfer case, or other. I'm trying to catch it and engage the FWD to see if it stops, but it is so random, it surprises me every time. I might unplug the vacuum line from the hubs so they are always engaged and see if it manifest itself, problem is, sometimes it only happens once in 3 months, Looking for suggestions.