steering or bearing issue?

[JustBillin]

I’ve noticed an issue with my truck and am not sure if it’s the IWE, a wheel bearing or something else. When driving straight down a highway in 2 WD everything is fine. If I turn the wheel barely to the left, I get a slight hum and vibration.

If I barely turn it barely to the right all is fine. My truck (2018 SCAB) is still under warranty and does have the torsen front differential. My tires are Cooper STT Maxx’s and are if pretty good shape. I just rotated the tires and that did not correct the issue.



I plan on taking it in for an oil change and will mention the issue, but I would like to have an idea of potentially could be in case they say it is normal or the tires.



Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[GCATX]

They will probably blame it on the tires. With the stock tires, once they wear down about half way, I get some crazy high pitch vibes/noises coming from the driver side front AC vent area, around 72 mph. lol. It's happend on 2 sets of tires. Once I get new set, it all goes away. I am somewhat lax on rotations, but after a certain amount of miles it doesn't seem to matter, it just makes the noise.

It's only around 72-76 mph. Higher or lower, it's just normal loud worn out tire sound. New tires are dead quiet.

 

[JustBillin]

Yeah, I was thinking they might say that. The weird thing is that it only occurs when turning slightly to the left. There is a slight buzzy vibration and noise that I can even feel a little with my foot on the floorboard.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Have you tried driving on a gravel road in 4H to see if it goes away, still could be iwe related. Are you comfortable in pulling the cap off the hub to check the nut for the axle, to see if it came loose?

 

[MikeyHD]

I would suggest jacking up the truck so that wheel is off the ground then check for play by rocking the top and bottom. If a bearing is worn, there will be a good amount of play. Compare the front wheels. I had that problem on a 2WD F150. It was obvious once I had the wheel off the ground. Same problem you described. Going straight, no vibration. Turning the steering lightly puts more pressure on the bearing and starts the vibration. I did the job myself at home. You will need an air gun to remove some of the nuts, a hammer to break the ball joint apart and a torque wrench to put everything back properly. I think I paid $250 for the bearing. It took about 90 minutes with a younger helper. 4WD bearing might be a little more expensive but not too bad of an afternoon project.

 

[craigt4065]

Did you ever find out the problem? I’m having same issue and just got truck back from dealer after having pump replaced, hose replaced and system was flushed. I think the noise is even a little louder now. Dealership is blaming it on the tires but the tires are less than a year old!

 

[JustBillin]

I've been really busy and haven't had a chance to take it in yet. I did jack up the left side and there did seem to be a little play, but I'm no expert on what is normal. I am concerned that the dealer might try to blame my tires since they are a little more aggressive, but I do have the extended warranty. The problem doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but I won't take it on a road trip until it is resolved.

 

[JustBillin]

Sorry for the late reply. My dealer replaced the whole hub assembly, and it did fix my issues. Unfortunately, it took a whole week due to staffing shortages and having to order the part. On a positive note, it was covered under my normal warranty.