I jacked up the front, grasped the front wheel at the top and bottom, and pushed on it. There was no play. Maybe if a bigger guy tries he'll get some play but I couldn't. Any other ways to tell? I can hear a rattle when driving coming from the driver's side front wheel. Sounds just like a rattling shock, but it's not the shock. I'm concerned about the wheel hub because I don't want the front wheel to fall off.

What other front end parts pose a danger and should be checked?

Also, are the wheel hubs the same as the the wheel bearings?

 

I don't know about your bearing. But I had some noise from my passanger side front tire. It would stop when I put the brakes on.

turned out that the slides for my calipers where shot. So much that I had to replace the bracket for it.

 

Did you check the u-joint at that wheel. They'll rattle when they go really bad. Also, when you pushed on the wheel, did you try to rock it back an forth from top to bottom and side to side. If it's rattling, I'd check the u-joint first. You may be able to get a screw driver in there to pry on the u-joint to see if there's any movement at all. You'll have to look from the back side of the wheel/hub assembly to see it at the end of the axle shaft as it enters the back of the hub.

 

Another vote for the U joint. You could even grab the joint and shake it to try and get some play out of it. That's about the only thing that I could see causing a rattle.

 

Try checking the factory plastic rivets that hold up the wheelwell liner. Mine were shot which caused a pretty annoying rattle. If they are bad you can go to an auto body and paint supply store and buy a box of about 30 plastic rivets for like 15 bucks.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll give it a look tomorrow. Just curious, what can happen if I keep driving with a worn u-joint? I'm going to Vegas next week.

 

It can break and you are stranded. If it is worn fix it asap, it can cause damamge to other parts.

rent a car rather than drive yours with a worn Ujoint.

would probably be a lot cheaper than the tow bill you would end up with.

 

Sudden u-joint failure can take out shaft yokes. And render the truck undrivable.

They are pretty easy to replace, only takes a few hours.

 

Jeff Foxworthy says,

"If yer speedin to git to the sooperspeedway Beer:30 Pit Party and one a yor TIRES gits there first - you just might need new wheel bearin's!"

 

you will need to drive the truck down a smooth road about 30mphs(side road or one thats don't have many cars are on it) pitch the truck to the right over a good distance and than back to the left ... when you pitch the truck to the left you wil load the right side wheel bearing and when you pitch the truck to the right you load the left bearing ...if you hear a roar than the bearings bad ... hope it'll help in finding out whats wrong

 

Easiest way ever to check for a wheel bearing going bad , jack said wheel up off of ground , grasp the coil spring with one hand , and while holding the spring , spin the wheel with the other hand , if you can " feel" the bearing turn , it's bad , or going bad. I learned that from a VW mechanic , i tried it ( knowing i had one bad wheel bearing on the truck) and it sure wasn't hard to tell the difference between the good and bad bearing by doing that.

 

These are all some very good suggestions. I did hold the spring while turning the wheel. Everything was smooth, I couldn't feel the bearing turning at all.

The u-joint doesn't seem to have any play in it.

BUT, I think I found where the noise is coming from. I uploaded a short clip on youtube.

Video Clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBKy77EVS2I

It appears that the rotor has a little play between the lugs. The sound is coming from the lugs smacking the rotor. The hub itself moves in one piece and has no play in it. Could the play in the rotor still be an indication of a bad hub?

 

Like the holes in the rotor are enlarged? It sounds to me like the hub is fine. I don't know what could have caused the holes to enlarge though...

 

Yeah, it's kinda weird. When I bought the truck the owner said it had new rotors and pads. Maybe they ran out and used one that was similar but not made exactly for the truck? Any other ideas?

 

I was thinking the same thing, either the one in 10,000 the factory sends out bad, or not the right rotor for your truck. Can you pull the rotor and measure the holes?