What do you guys think? I was getting a loud howl (sounded like extra loud oversize mud tires) under deceleration that gets louder when I hit the brakes. Under braking, the vibration picks, up and the truck shakes almost like the rotors are warped. I took to my local dealer. They tell me front brakes need replaced (I new they were due) but the kicker is this... The Howl they say is from worn out wheel\hub assembly bearings. $1100 repair for bearings, $200 for front brake job. (No warranty for bearings) I was skeptical to say, but I had the work done. Now for the fun part. On test drive, the truck still made the howl, and the truck still vibrated when braking. They turned down my rotors until minimum specs and still no change. Then they said my rotors need replaced. That night when I go the truck home I installed new rotors and guess what still the same problem. I have now paid dealer $1100 for non-warranty work that still has not solved my original complaint.

I though the hub bearing replacement seem an odd place to start, I thought maybe u-joints. I feel like making them put my old wheel bearing back on and demand my money back, Any ideas what else could be wrong? My truck is all stock except the 285 BFG AT tires I put on 10000 miles ago. When I first put them on I had no vibration or added howl from the tires.

 

Try the u-joints on main and fwd shaft?

 

They feel tight by just trying to shake them, they show a small amount of grease stains on yoke. This was my first suspect, dealer thought they were fine and would not change them (they probably make more money replacing the bearings first).

 

Your description sounds exactly like my center u joint failure last week. You can't really tell with it in place. Disconnect it from the rear end and twist and turn the shaft. Both center and rear joint had grease stains. Center was shot and rear was not great either. I replaced all three.

 

Thanks for the tip. The back rear joint is pretty hot to touch, much more so than front joint on the rear drive line. Were you getting the vibration too?
I get it especially when braking or decelerating under load.

 

Yes to the vibration. Center one was hot, hot. Rear was warm. Front was cold. The center joint was so tight that it was causing the rear end of the truck to bounce at speeds decelerating from 25-0 mph. When I disconnected from the pumpkin I could not even bend the shaft. Rotated 90* and it bent fairly stiff. 3 of 4 caps inside were bone dry and the needle bearings were dust. Find yourself 3 Precision 351 joints for about $90. I sourced them at Napa. Good stout joint and greaseable too.
If this ends up being it, I hope you get your coin back from the dealer. If so, I would demand a set of new rotors since they turned them down to zip.

Edit: I just realized you have a SB. I hope I'm not steering you in the wrong direction here. I appologize if I have.