Drivers side front wheel binding then releasing when turning

This forum has helped me save an insane amount of $ and time so I wanted to put this out there in case anyone else has this issue in the future.

Couple weeks ago I began having an issue with the drivers side front wheel. Every once in a while it would feel like it was binding very slightly. I would have to correct via steering by turning slightly to the right when going straight in order to track. When the binding was happening, if/when I turned hard right I would hear and feel a clunk from the wheel like something was breaking loose, then the truck would steer and track fine for 5-10 minutes. Then it would slowly feel like it was slightly binding again.

I verified ball joints, tie rods, steering rack, steering linkage were good. Pulled hub bearings out and they were falling apart. Replaced bearings and seals on both sides (passenger's were loose as hell but not destroyed like the driver's) and voila, no more problems.

Was a bit stumped at first because the wheel didn't squeal when driving or have resistance when spinning when it was jacked up. No looseness in wheel when jacked up and jerking it around from all directions. Issue was very intermittent - some drives it was happening every 5 minutes, other times I'd drive for an hour with no issues.

Anyways, hope this helps some future 1st gen owner.

 

New here and found this comment . Been having almost this exact same issue and usually noticed then binding and popping noise when wheels turned hard right and especially when backing up! Going to tear her down after Christmas and see what's up! Thanks! BTW 240K miles.