Havent jacked it up but that noise you get from bad wheel bearing on right hand turns and the thump is all goin on. front tires are crabbing.
diagnosis below is pretty much word for word what mines doin. drivers side.
thoughts on what else it might be before i swap em out. CV,UNI joint, ect.
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Hey Ranger Fans, (explorers and the like too)
Just finished replacing my "sealed" front wheel bearing assy on 2003 Ranger Supercab with 4.0, and ABS.
The lack of conventional opposing tapered rollers is sort of a drag. I would much prefer repacking, and resnugging the cones. But, the design is in place. There was grunting and grumbling in the front drivers wheel that was rather sensitive to right turns. My MPG dropped a few, as the wheel must have been crabbing. The best way to Diagnose this is to lift wheel off the ground, and shake the wheel. It was loose in every direction. The sloppiness is very evident. No doubt.
Tools:
14mm wrench for the brake caliper bracket
15mm wrench for the Hub/bearing assy
32mm socket on breaker bar to remove the axle nut (wasn't the best fit - mebbe a 31mm would be better? 30mm didnt fit)
There is no way to use a torque wrench on the Bearing assembly bolts as they are pretty deep inside the works, and universals cloud matters. Snug it good!
Had to use a hammer on the open end of the wrench to get the 15mm bolts off.
The Timken unit from Autozone was $200, and has all the "stuff" that holds the wheel on.
When you feel that wheel grumbling and feel a little directional wobblies, get these swapped out. If they fail, the
tire and wheel might come off the car!
Prolly gonna do the other side pre-emptively. Good for rolling resistance and peace of mind.
Over and out!
JW