Hey guys and gals.

I have been having some trouble with my truck. With my 4x4 hubs locked in, my truck was making a squeeling, and a bit of a clunking noise. Only in 4x4 though, with the hubs disengaged there was no noise whatsoever, no vibration either. I went under the truck and grabbed a hold of my front axle to check the u joint, and the axle (not the u joint) was able to move more then the passenger side.

So yesterday I went and yanked the hub, and the hub assembly off to check the needle bearing in there, and it looks ok. My axle shaft looks ok. I can however grab a hold of the end of the axle shaft, jiggle it around, and it looks like there is play coming from behind that dust seal in the front diff.

I can only assume this means my inner axle bearing is toast?

Now if it is toast, is this a easy process to change? I tried searching a little on here but cant seem to come across a write up, or anything with how to change it.

Any advice, tips and whatnot will be appreciated, and if there is something I am missing to check, please let me know! Im hoping to order the parts locally sometime this afternoon if it gets slow from work as well.

Thanks.

 

Just giving myself a bump. After doing a little reading I am under the impression that my front axle has some play with the hub off, and pretty much the problems I could be having is the axle could be worn, the needle bearings could be worn, or the wheel bearings could be worn. Anyone have any input at all? Called around today and the cheapest labour to get it fixed is 600 bucks, ouch!

 

Subscribing.
I'll be interested to hear how this turns out.

 

How much play are you seeing?

One end of that shaft is supported by the needle bearing in the locking hub, the other end is supported by the needle bearing in the main wheel bearing and the wheel seal on the back side of the bearing.

You might need to just grease the needle bearing which are not too hard to get to.

Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Needle Bearing Maintenance Web Page

Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Autolock Hub Lubrication Maintenance Web Page

These too links show you the two needle bearings. The bearing in the wheel hub assembly is pretty inexpensive if it needs to get replaced.


The squealing and clunking could be a bad u-joint. That's a bit more work to replace, but I'd take a look at the bearings first.

How many miles do you have on it?

 

Thanks for the reply. Im not sure how to guage how much it moves, especially now since I have the hub assembly right off. Like it wiggles up and down a little when the hub is off, but I THINK thats normal, and with the hub on, it was defiantely more loose then the other side. I can also push/pull the whole axle in and out of the differential housing a little it, so Im not sure if that means that the seal there is worn and needs to eb replaced anyways?

I got it apart late last night and will have a better look tonight, but from my look last night the needle bearings looked, rolled, and felt normal.

That lead to my post this morning, where I thought maybe the axle bearing (proper term here?)was loose in the differential housing, but the more I read, the less Im sure.

I think I may just replace the u joint, replace the seals, replace the needle bearing that I can get to, grease everything I can and go from there. (thoughts about this???)

I will also be ordering some warn premium hubs from Clay, so Im trying to problem solve with that in mind as well.

I have a relative that works at NAPA, and can probably get a smoking deal on a new hub assembly, but since my truck was fine in 2 wheel drive, I dont think its necessary yet. (thoughts???)

Mileage on my truck is 297,000 kms, so thats what, 185,000ish miles? I know I have one changed ball joint on that side, and I believe the rest is stock, but im not 100 percent sure either.

Last night when I was yanking stuff apart I had my laptop in the garage blaring tunes, and guzzles page open, it was a great help in taking things apart!

Welcome to more thoughts and advice though!

 

The in and out movement of the axle is controlled by the snap ring on the end of the axle stub just under the hub, and the wheel seal on the inside of the knuckle. Could be that the seal is giving a little bit of play.

If you turn the wheel, jack the front end up, lock the hub and leave the transfer case in 2 wheel drive, you should be able to spin the wheel, and it should turn smoothly. If it is stiff or makes noise, watch the u-joint when you turn the wheel. Could just be a u-joint going bad, and you will have to replace the wheel seal to replace the u-joint, so that should tighten everything up.

 

same problem here. I pulled the front axles a couple months ago because the noise was annoying as hell. Now it's snowing and time to put it back together. I have Warn premium hubs that are 4 years old, I believe that they were the cause of my rattling. I ordered a new set today, as well as an outer shaft, but am still apprehensive that all of my play is in the outer hub. Is there a bearing or something deeper in towards the differential that adds stability to the axles? When the hub is removed and the axle is still installed, it moves up and down 1/4" or so. Maybe more. OR, IS the needle bearing and the outer locking hub the stability?? Please help, I'm supposed to pick up the hubs tomorrow. I don't want to needlessly spend the $$ if I'm going to have to do something else.

 

Is it possible that the side bearings inside the diff housing are going bad?

 

So since I needed my truck tomorrow, I threw everything back together tonight, and its fine again as long as I keep it in 2 wheel drive.

I did get a little rowdy with checking my ball joints and discovered that the top one is starting to show some play, so I will be changing both the top and bottom joints, the u joint, then all the seals, and the needle bearings!

I also ordered some warn premiums from Clay tonight (can you believe its about 200 bucks I save, after duty, exchange, and shipping?!), so when they get here Ill also update, maybe this thread, might forget about this one and start another.

Not right away though, just wanted to update this thread the best I can.

 

I don't think the axle bearings near the diff actually do much other then support the diff. When I was putting my axles back in they just slid into the diff. The in and out movement is controlled by the wheel seal that gets pressed on and the snap ring on the outside of the wheel bearing. The support is from the two needle bearings, one in the wheel bearing and one in the hub.

Preppy, replacing those parts should tighten up the axle for you. Mine wiggled quite a bit when I had the hub off and I replaced all that as well and it's nice and tight now.

 

Yeah after doing some more reading, i had kinda gathered that those bearings in the diff, arent really a problem for me.

Kevin what all did you replace on yours? Did you have to replace the hub assembly as well?

 

I was planning on just doing the hub assembly, wheel seals and u-joints, but ended up doing the ball joints as well once I got into it and realized they were bad. My axles moved maybe 1/4" up and down before I did this, and now they just wiggle a little. I had no damage to the axle shafts, so I think that inner bearing just wears and gets dry on grease and lets it flex a bit.

 

I went through this very same thing last summer. I was sure that the outer shaft would be bad because of the movement in the axle with everything installed. I dug into it and found nothing wrong except the dust seal and the u joint. I was relieved to not have to buy a bunch of extra parts.

 

Ok so I wanted to update my thread here.

I replaced the drivers side front axle u-joint, needle bearing (I regreased it as well), upper and lower balljoint, knuckle seal, dust seal, and installed a set of warn premiums. My tire was starting to wear and my ball joints were toast.

The truck feels alot tighter, but when I have my truck in 2 wheel drive, and have the hubs locked, I still hear a bit of a squeel, but doesnt really sound like a bad squeal, more of like...... Im not sure how to explain it. Ive heard squealing in bearings before and it doesnt sound like this.

Not sure what all else to replace. Im gonna try to lube the wheel bearing through the abs sensor, and change the front driveshaft u joints, and change out my transfer case oil (which I think are all irrelevant to what my problem is) and see what happens. (as well as my next free weekend Im gonna do the other side ball joints, u joints and seals)

Anyone else have any ideas?