I have a 1991 F150 with automatic hubs. Been hearing some grinding noise from the right front since I engaged the 4 wheel drive the other day. If I stop the noise stops and I hear a cluck from underneath which sounds as if it is coming from the front end. I put the truck up on jack stands and can spin the front driveshaft by hand which will turn both the front axles. If I spin the front left tire it wil spin the axle and front drive shaft. However if I spin the left tire nothing rotates except the tire. Should both tires be moving the front drivetrain? I am not very familiar with the 4 wheel drive and not sure if I should be looking for a broken part on the right front or a sticking hub on the left front? Also noticed a lot of play on the left front so am thinking its time to replace the wheel bearings as its on the wheel moving when I grab the tire andshake it. Any help would be appreciated and thanks!

 

spinning the tire, the axle should not spin.

 

Did you do the front U-joint check? Try to see if there is any play in the U-joint by twisting the axle opposite ways on either side of the front U-joints, you can reach in there with the wheel turned between the frame fork and the knuckle.

 

He is right, but only in the case that your 4x4 hubs are unlocked

 

Ok. So I guess from the answers here that I my front left is stuck in 4 wheel while the front right is working properly. And that 8 shouldn't worry about the play in the hub until I can get the hub unlocked and check ikt againn then? How does the hub lock itself? Is it vacum controled?

 

if i remember correctly the automatic hubs use a spring mechanism that engages the hubs when power is supplied to the wheel via the axle. If not sealed correctly it could easily get grimy in there and cause parts to jam up. They are not hard to take apart and clean or replace if you have to. On youtube look up Oldsmob455, he has a lot of good videos working on our trucks including ball joints, u-joints, and the 4x4 hubs. You SHOULD try the u-joint check though because my auto hubs were locking and jamming up randomly because of bad front axle u-joints. I swapped em out for manual in the end when i replaced all front ball joints, u-joints, and bearings

 

Ok when I get home I will check the u joint. Should it be tight with absolutely no play whatsoever? I will also check out the guy on youtbe you mentioned. I was trying to find a video somewhere that showed the breakdown of the hub so I would be a bit more familiar with it. Thanks for the help and I will post back with the results I come up with

 

Alright, well I got home and checked my u-joint and there does seem to be a fair amount of play. So I will pick up a new universal and go ahead and change the bearings while Im at it.(these are 20 year old parts after all) I have already replaced the upper and lower ball joints along with the tie rods, shocks, radius arm bushings, and sway bar bushings. The only question I would have left with this right now is I was turning the left side rotor and was spining the axle and the driveshaft from the transfer case. The front right side axle was not spining. Is this because the left side is stuck in place and the right side is working as it should? The truck is in 2wd at the moment. I will do the work on this probably Saturday to give me time to try and knock it out in one shot.

 

Do your self a favor and replace the auto hubs with manuals while you are in there.

That one is NOT disengaging and that is NOT good

 

Do what he says. I swapped mine. They were working fine but I hated the idea that I could not physically lock them and that if you get stuck in a tight situation and you have to go from drive to reverse the hubs will unlock and then relock (but you must have traction during the locking process). If you think about it, you use 4-wheel drive in some cases for better traction and in more severe cases so you don't get stuck. Well if you do get stuck, or you need to reverse in a situation were you absolutely need 4x4 the hubs are gunna unlock and then you lose 4x4 when you need it most. Probably unlikley but that's my take on it. The auto to manual coversion kit is very cheap and it is simply new wheel bearing locking nuts which your gunna have to take out anyways plus of coarse new hubs

And yeah the hub is stuck

 

Yes the auto hubs are TRASH. They're Ok if you need to drive to the grocery store in a snow storm, but if you need 4x4 for anything more demanding than that, they will fail you sooner than later. I have the Warn lockouts and they have never given me a problem, while on my mother's old truck the auto hub shattered (literally came out in pieces) the first time we ever got that truck stuck.

 

I have a 2003 F150 4 wheel drive. My problem is the transfercase motor was acting up now I get no dash light for 4 wheel drive when using the dash switch. I have power to my solenoids with the engine on in 2 wd but when switched into 4 wd I have no power to the engage solenoid any ideas what to check. fuses are all good

 

Not to be rude more2003F150 but you will get a better response if you go to the appropriate forum for your year truck...and if you make a new thread as opposed to going back to a 5 year old thread. Good luck

 

Here's a link to the '97 - '03 forum