Ok, gotta intervene.


There are no Needle Bearings in the front hub assembly on a 4X4. There are Ball Bearings and the bearing races are formed into the hub making them non-rebuildable.

This is an un-true and un-founded blank statement. The part you are reffering to "where the front driveshaft connects to the transfer case" is called a "Yoke". I think there is only one recorded issue in the entire time I have been here that the Yoke was bad and it wasn't even the input Yoke on the front drive shaft.

In that issue it was a Yoke on the rear drive shaft on the rear differential. What happened is his was worn out from a seal that had gone out. I talked him through how to replace the Yoke and Seal and the problem was fixed.


Back to the Original Posters question. On the back of the rotors on the front there is a thin cover. This is called a brake dust shield. If it was bent and not true it would cause a sharp ringing sound that would increase the faster you went and would really be noticeable with the window down.

Other causes:

1. A grooved steering knuckle where the brake arm pad slides can cause the brake pad arm to slide into this grove and be locked into place caught between the rotor and not being able to slide back on the slide arms because of the grove. This would cause the vibration and slight squeal.

2. Bad wheel bearing.

3. Something in the tire or something in the rim.

4. Loose lugs.

5. Something inside the tire where a tube would go.

6. Cracked rotor or cracked pads.

7. Internal differential issue.

8. Bad CV.


If you could be a little MORE specific it might help or take a video of it.

 

Not here to agrue but I could of sworn I seen some large "roller/needle" bearings in my stock front hub assembly on my 98 4x4 D. I beat on the old one to get a peek inside to see what's going on in there. Maybe they had two diffrent types of assemblies, but it's not really important what what type they are.

Anyways I do agree with the rattling sound could be a number of various things on the front end, the trick is to pinout the problem as best you can.

 

No argument, just a conversation.

I broke one apart on a project to see if they could be rebuilt or not. I found out no they cannot. It was on a 1998 Durango 4X4. They only made one style other than the the ABS sensor w/without, same bearing though just a slight indifference with a recessed lug for ABS sensor. I was finally able to get a old bad one from a member here for the tear project. In it you can see the bad bearing and the worn out race.

Actually, I looked inside my pictures which I took and never updated that thread.


Actually we are both wrong as they are roller bearings:


I just uploaded a new album here if you want to see why: http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/a...Dodge%20Forum/



Wheel Bearing Rebuild Project (Did not work)
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...l-bearing.html

 

I do remember that write up and reading it hydra. I wish I saved my old wheel bearings from last year, I would have most certainly sent them to you for sure if I knew. Mine didn't look anything like the ones in your picture as mine seemed a lot more beefy and the bearings were pressed somehow into the race (the race walls on both sides closed in to lock all the roller bearings inside). For the sake of your write up, my hub assembly too had no chance of being rebuild or even taken apart for that matter. The bearing spacers were plastic I remember if that means anything. My hubs were the ones without the ABS sensors on them, I only have rear ABS. I believe the 2WD models were the only ones with bearings you can press into the hubs.

 

If the noise can be heard from a slow speed (jogging pace) have someone drive your D and run next to it to try and pinpoint where the noise is at. That is your best bet at tracking this down in the beginning. Do both sides and see if it can be heard on one side more than the other. As others have already said put your hands on everything. A visual inspection will not give up the goods all the time.

 

Nope, sorry dude. They are most definitely, absolutely, positively, NOT ball bearings....

 

he already corrected himself

 

WOw, good advice. I did notice a slight, very slight groove worn into the inside of the rim. The groove was extremely shallow and barely noticeable, but it's there. I am gonna do some driving today with a video camera taped to a broom handle held outside the window near the tire. The noise seems shallow, like it's right near the tire, not under the vehicle. Anyway, I am off to try to figure this thing out.

 

Oops. Didn't catch that until just now... I guess that's what happens when I try to read the forum when I'm half asleep....

(Can I blame it on the alcohol? That one seems to work for Hydra... )

 

Yup, already corrected myself. The bearings are needle bearings.

Yours must have been aftermarket and not OEM. OEM bearings are Timkin.


Here is the OEM 4X4 (rear wheel ABS style) (RAWL) front wheel bearing hub assembly.



Here is the OEM 4X4 (4 wheel ABS style) front wheel bearing hub assembly.



As you can see it's the same exact bearing only the larger lug on the side for the ABS sensor and the ABS sensor with exciter ring. I question what your old one was concerting I had the exact same truck that you do.


Here is the 2WD Rear Wheel (RAWL) bearing.



Here is the 2WD front wheel bearing (4 wheel ABS style). You can see the ABS exciter ring (the teeth).


2wd bearings are just the regular old tapered roller bearings with and inner and an outer race. In that thread:

Wheel Bearing Rebuild Project (Did not work)
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...l-bearing.html

The member describes that they replaced the 2WD bearings with part number Timken SET815 bearings. From what I understand you can just replace the bearing as long as the outer race is (the hub moldings) are good. I have not verified this on the 2WD style yet. Here is the bearing they say will work for replacement: (Timken SET815)





On the 4WD version, the bearing races are built into the hub assembly (both inner and outer races) so they are NOT separate and therefore not replaceable. Here you can see the actual inner race of the 4X4 version and why the bearings are completely different rendering it non rebuildable. The bearing it's self appears to be the same but with the modified inner race and there is no replaceable bearing number because it was built special, so you HAVE no choice then to buy the entire assembly. In fact the bearing numbers themselves cross refference to the entire assembly as well because the assembly was US Patented.