My truck is humming a tune

Well, maybe not a tune, but it's humming. It starts being noticeable around 20 MPH, does NOT change with engine speed, only with road speed, and goes away when turning even slightly to the right. Both diffs have Mobil 1 75W-90 in them. Truck does not pull in either direction and the front wheels seem solid when lifted, so I don't think the bearings are bad. Last thing left to check would be the rear brakes. They were all new last Dec., before I got the truck. I tried pulling a front caliper a couple weeks ago and couldn't get it off, seemed like a metal clip was holding it someplace. I didn't have that problem with a buddy's 2001 S-10. Both have dual-piston calipers up front.

Truck in question is a 2000 S-10 ZR2. My tire pressures are a little low (under 30 all around) but still equal, so that's the first order of business, bumping them back to 30 rear, 32 front.

Reply to
Mike Levy
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it does sound like a wheel bearing to me , they don't have to have play to make noise

Reply to
Kingsway

My S10 outside mirrors used to humm at certain speeds. Take some electrical tape and cover every seam on both mirrors and see if the noise goes away.

Reply to
Jmagerl

Hmm, mine are the "big" mirrors with the full-height hinge, as on the newer model trucks. Only one seam, the hinge.

Well, gonna pull the rear brakes apart and check for a dragging pad (I LOVE rear discs) in the AM. If I have no luck there, I'll try to pull the front right caliper again and check out that bearing...

Reply to
Mike Levy

Maybe it doesn't know the lyrics? :)

Dan

Reply to
Marshall Banana

Mike, I think it's a pretty safe bet that your right front wheel bearing is gone. We do tons of wheel bearings on the T trucks. As another poster mentioned, the bearing can be noisy and not have any discernible play.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

What's the avg. mileage you see on the failed parts? I've got less than 70,000 miles on mine. I realize the ZR2 will wear them out faster with the bigger tires. I think I can tackle this on my own, seems fairly straightforward...

Reply to
Mike Levy

I tried to pull the caliper today and couldn't get it off. I tried taking the whole assembly off, bracket and all, but couldn't break the bracket bolts loose either. Any trick to this? I pulled the calipers off an '01 this past summer with no problems.

If you're pretty sure on the problem being the bearing, I'm gonna go ahead and get one at some point to swap it out. Gonna try one last time tomorrow to find the source, then I gotta get the front end apart to replace it. Any tips for replacing the part? I'll be finding a Timken or BCA bearing, can't shell out the $400+ for a dealer part...

Reply to
Mike Levy

The bolts that hold the bracket to the knuckle are extremely tight. They have factory loctite on them, and I use a long bar to get them off.

Gotta run off to Edmonton, so I won't be around for a day or so.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

I'm not sure there is any part of the world where one just simply runs off to Edmonton....

Big Chris

Reply to
Big Chris

Thanks. I have access to a 4' section of steel pipe, that ought to do the trick on a box-end wrench. That factory locktite shouldn't matter, rotors were replaced before I got the truck.

Reply to
Mike Levy

Hmmm....you must be familiar with the place?

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Yes, no, maybe. I grew up in South Dakota, and have spent ample time in North Dakota. Same goes for any point in either of those states. I've contemplated going to Edmonton, but every time I pull out the maps, I find myself going "my goodness that is a long way from anywhere." I hope to make it to Banff sometime in the next few years, and might take in Edmonton on my way.

Big Chris

Reply to
Big Chris

Well, if you do happen to get out to Banff, feel free to stop in and visit. You will end up going thru Calgary to get there. Edmonton is only a 2.5 hr drive from Calgary, so it's not much of a drive from here.

I haven't been out to Banff in years, and I only live an hour away from it! That's usually the way it goes when you live that close to a place like Banff. I don't know if you watch "The Amazing Race", but the last episode had the travelers going from the Philippines (where I grew up) to Banff and Calgary (where I live now). Good stuff.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

I'll keep it in mind. I'd like to go to Winnepeg, then over your direction. I've thought about it for honeymoon type trip, but first I have to get married! (slowly working on that). We'll see. I will make it to Banff at some point, I am committed to that for sure. How did you grow up in the Philippines and end up in Calgary? Talk about stark contrasts!

Big Chris

Reply to
Big Chris

My parents were missionaries over there. Once I finished high school there, there wasn't much for me to do. Came back to Calgary ( a lot of my parents financial support came from this city) and settled down here. As far as city life goes in Canada, I don't know if you can beat the life here in Calgary.

The big contrast for me has always been the weather. I "put up" with this weather, but I'd prefer to live in the tropics any day of the week.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

I had kinda guessed that might be the case, but didn't want to jump to that conclusion. I have a couple of former (retired) missionaries from the Philippiens in my church, and a friend here at Seminary who came from the Philippiens.

Big Chris

Reply to
Big Chris

Interesting...here in Canada..the initial guess is usually...."military", or "business"....but almost never "missionary". Probably an indictor of one of the many differences in cultures between Canada and the USA. Of course, the vast majority of missionaries in the Philippines were Americans....so I basically grew up "American". I even knew and recited the Pledge of Allegiance and saluted the American flag and all that. At one point, we few Canadians attempted to have the Canadian flag present in the classroom and have the Canadian anthem sung....but none of my American classmates would have anything to do with it. I suppose it smacked of being unpatriotic. As far as I can tell, we Canadians are not very hung up on that sort of thing. Personally, I do tend to keep an eye on America politics....and I tend to be more conservative then most folks that I know up here (with the exception of my wife..heh heh)

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Well, I thought removing the bolts was gonna be the hard part of this job. Boy was I wrong! Those bolts came out REAL easy, the hard part was getting the hub outta the knuckle. I had to ask a neighbor, who works on cars a lot, to come over with a BFH (5 lb sledge) and brass drift to help me get it out. Took him 5 mins. to do what I spent 2 hours trying to do. It's all buttoned up, the hum is gone.

BTW, Ian, do you usually have to use a box-end wrench on the upper caliper bracket bolts? There wasn't enough room to get a socket on there . Maybe it's a thing with the ZR2 control arms, my buddy's regular S-10 wasn't nearly as much trouble.

Reply to
Mike Levy

Yep, box end is all that will work. Plus, if I remember correctly, the bolt won't come out unless you turn the steering all the way to one side or the other (depending on the caliper you are working on).

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

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