'99 4R auto, 4x4, 118k miles

I developed a speed dependent whirring noise from the driver's front. As well as a clunk that can be felt in the floor board when going from forward to reverse. When I caked the front and took the weight of the suspension I could get some play push/pulling the wheel at 3 & 9 oclock, but no movement at 12 & 6.

I'm thinking wheel bearing, but I also don't see a lot of people complain about them going bad so I'm doubting myself. LBJs are only about 40k old.

Thoughts?

 

A bad wheel bearing will have play in all directions if it has any, but they can make noise well before they show play.

 

See if you can spin the hub (with or w/o tire) and feel for any roughness.

Whirring at low speed and turning is a telltale sign. Yours may be starting to go bad.

I'd still make sure nothing in the
braking system is contributing.

I'm sure you've come across Rad's newsflash posts on lower bj failures. Did you check for play between the joint and the knuckle? A camera with self-timer perhaps or a friend to help...

 

Yup, I'm well aware of the LBJ failures, that's why I swapped in new OE Toyota ones within about a week of buying the truck. So that was at 83k and it has 118k on it now. the LBJ was tight when I pulled the spindle. You know, I want to cover all my bases while I have things torn apart so I don't have to do it twice or three times over.

 

Just going to throw it out there that I had a whirring noise that I would have sworn was coming from the front, so I replaced both front wheel bearings. Unfortunately, it did not fix it.... It ended up being a bad pinion bearing in the 3rd member that was whirring.

Now yours actually does sound more like wheel bearings than my scenario, but just keep that in mind for the future.

 

I agree, after reading again about the clunk beneath the floorboard, I would think it could be elsewhere..