I have a 2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4x4 4.6L V8, i drive for work a lot, the other week i am going down the highway at about 70mph and start to switch lanes ( turning slightly to the left) on a left turning curve, all of a sudden my steering whell breaks over slightly and i hear a intermitent grinding noise. When i turn back to the right the noise stops. Now tonight on my way home i am driving straight down the road and my whole truck starts to wobble extremely hard, i mean the front is moving left and the rear is moving right and going back and fourth until i turn the wheel to the left or right. Im not sure what it could be possible wheel bearings? ball joints? something in the steering?

Front wheel bearings maybe.

I am leaning toward that too, but shouldn't the grinding be happening constantly if it is the wheel bearings? and not only on a left hand turn?

Turning puts more weight on the opposite wheel and makes the noise louder. If you turn right then weight shifts to the left making the left wheel bearing louder if it is going bad.

It's loud when I turn left and goes dead silent when turning right.

So it's my right front wheel bearing since it happens when turning left

If this is affecting your steering don't drive it until it's checked out. FoR is right about the bearings giving feedback with weight transfer. They should have the same wear on them, like most things that wear its best to do both at the same time if you can.

So it's my right front wheel bearing since it happens when turning left

98 times out of 100 yes it has the highest probability of being the right bearing.

Okay, so i replaced the front passenger wheel bearing hub assembly, this did not fix the problem. I think i found where my problem lies though. On the passenger rear there is a part that is what looks to be frame grade steel and it mounts to the frame in front of the axle and attaches to the rear hub. where this part attatches to the frame it is bent and rubbing against the frame, there appears to be a bushing there but the part is not sitting on it it is grinding (i can see fresh metal) i cant find the part online but im not sure what it is called trailing arm control arm some kind of stabilizer? this has to be the source of the truck pulling and then wobbling when turned slightly at high speeds. any idea?

the red circled is the part, the yellow is where i noticed the wear when i was doing the the wheel bearing hub replacement on the front.

Yes omg i've been looking everywhere for it. the part where it mounts onto the frame, specifically the part that cradles it is bent. i'm not sure what to do. try and rebend it? im not even sure that the arm itself is bad im sure the bushing is though. what really diappointing is that i already dumped $300 in to wheel bearings and hub assemblies.

It's called the trailing arm, I've never seen one of them get bent or the ears on the frame damaged unless there was some kind of impact. I thought that you heard the noise in the front? In your pic I couldn't see the damage that you are talking about, do you have another pic?

I thought the noise was coming from the front too, i replaced the Right wheel bearing hub anyway, i have another one for the driver side and 2 bearings for the rears. I can still hear a noise during left hand turns though, now it is distinctly coming from the right rear, if you look through the slotted hole just below the bolt head you can see wear on the left and right side of the trailing arm.

the "ear" is bent in at the top. i may attempt to remove the bold and try to re seat the trailing arm on the bushing until i can repair permanently. what do you think?

looking at the picture i just noticed there appears to be yellow paint on the ear where it mounts to the frame possibly someone ran over a curb or a concrete parking spot thing.

Yes a parking block or similar is likely but how in the blue hell did it not damage anything else? Loosen adjust and tighten as much as possible then see if replacement is needed. Use the other side as a guide to make sure it's in the correct spot.

working on it now thanks buddy ill let post my progress, looking under the rear end there are a few other linkage spots that are out of alignment they aren't bend or damaged but you can tell by comparing them to the drivers side that they are not straightly mounted in their respective positions

drive shaft on front beeds to be changed on that side