2000 Windstar Front Hub or Wheel Bearing Back ???

[MrCreosote]

I have a strange symptom in my right front hub/shaft:

1. When on highway >50 mph, if I turn LEFT, there is this significantly "grumbling" and a "dum... dum... dum..." that appears to be coming from the RIGHT front wheel. You can feel this in the floor boards and in the steering wheel. In fact, it seems like the tire is not aligned properly when this is happening.
2. As 50 is approached, there seems to be a rotating shaft unbalance to a limited extent. Something a mechanic might notice and a lay person might not.
3. Nothing is noticeable <40 mph
4. There is noticeable feather edging of the RHS tire on the outboard portion of the tread.
5. No CV joint boots are broken.
6. Have occasionally detected the CV "click, click, click" when pulling into driveway to park.
7. The inside of the hub, spindle, outer CV joint are soaking in something which can only be brake fluid since there is no oil anywhere in that area, right? NOTE: Some miles ago I rebuild the calipers because the piston boots were disintegrated. Turns out the pistons are ceramic and the seals reside in grooves in the caliper bore so that the sliding surface is actually the ceramic piston. While there was some rust in the bore, the slots seemed OK and I believe the rebuild was a success because it didn't leak days after I did the repair.

DIAGNOSIS: Hub or CV failure?

1. Tire wear means the wheel bearing is bad.
2. The "only during left turn >50" could be the behavior of a stacked pair of hub bearings. They have some preload in them so that perhaps going straight down the road with little load on the bearing, the preload keeps the good bearing in proper alignment and able to support the shaft. When a substantial cornering moment is generated, shaft axis tilts and starts to load the bad bearing producing the rumbling and thumping.
3. No ripped CV boot suggests the CV half shafts are OK.
4. The click, click, click pulling into drive way suggests the CV shaft needs replaced.

THEORY:

1. Could saturating the hub/CV with brake fluid have dissolved the grease which is normally packed in these components (well at least the hub - the outboard CV boot looked intact.)

PARTS CONFUSION:

1. The auto parts stores list a Hub Assembly.
2. The on-line Ford parts places list a Wheel Bearing Back and show a crude parts picture of a bearing. Not a hub assembly. They do not list a hub assembly.
3. I wasn't that long ago when I ordered parts from Ford internet dealers and they always gave the part number. Now, none of these sites give the part number so it really is dangerous ordering a part that is not fully identified.
4. Does anyone explain to me what parts or assemblies are available for the bearing hub? and maybe Ford part numbers?
5. Are there any LifeTime Warranty hubs out there? because there are $50 lifetime CV shafts everywhere?

THOUGHTS or SUGGESTIONS? Any would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Tom

[12Ounce]

Any Ford dealership parts person should be able to print you out an exploded view, showing all parts, of you front wheel and suspension area.

[MrCreosote]

Just lost all water in cooling system because the "oil" that was all over the caliper,hub,etc. got on the bottom radiator hose, swelled the rubber, caused a blister which burst resulting in a pinhole leak.

I thought it was brake fluid from a leaky caliper but fluid level is right where it should be, however, about a month ago, I had to put a quart of ATF in and I wondered, where did it go?

I think I know now.

After I replaced the hose and filled cooling system, I ran engine for 15 min to check for leaks. I shut it down and came back 30 minutes later and found a little puddle of ATF on the floor.

It looks like one of the ATF coolant lines/o-rings/compression fittings/etc. must be leaking - it might even be that a metal clip rubbed through the metal coolant tube too.

This would be nice because that would mean my caliper repair was successful. Frankly, since the plastic pistons are the wiping surface, one would think if the caliper worked properly right after rebuild, there would be no way it could somehow go bad since there is nothing to rust out/wear to mess up the seals. Unless the seals were really made of gunk that could not withstand normal operating temperatures. But that would really mean a crappy part which I don't think is a possible.

The ATF should not damage the CV boot whereas brake fluid might. So the CV boot is probably not compromised at all.

I'm really tempted to put a $31 Parts Plus hub assembly in.

I know it is Chinese but check the hard drive in your computer - they are all made in China these days. So that means China knows how to make a precision bearing and should be able to figure out how to make a crude hub bearing.

Anyone use those Parts Plus hubs?

Thanks
Tom

PS. Hub removal: I was wondering if it is possible to get the hub mounting bolts free, remove the shaft nut and somehow pull the hub off the shaft without disconnecting the ball joint. Is this possible or does the CV joint cover the hub bolt nuts?