Back in January I had my right front wheel bearing and u-joint go out, so I replaced them both. At the time I didn't realize my outer stub axle shaft was wore so I just put it back in. After a little driving the right side started to "thump" and "pop" when I would make hard left turns driving around town.

I replaced the outer front stub axle shaft and seal again because the old one was worn down. This eliminated any play in the u-joint. After a bit of driving the thumping and popping noise came back.

I decided to dig into it today so I pulled it all apart. When everything is apart it turns easily, no issue at all. When I assembled the wheel bearing, torqued it to 55 ft/lbs and installed and "locked" the hub I noticed something peculiar. I can barely turn the whole assembly by hand. I have to put a good amount of force to get the whole assembly to turn at all. When I walk to the driver side with all the same parts there i can turn the wheel bearing and locked axle shaft with one finger on the studs.

I have been in this thing 5 times and can not figure out what the heck is wrong. I can't figure out why this stupid axle shaft and wheel bearing are so hard to turn, together or separately, and I can't figure out how to get my front end to stop that thumping and popping.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what this could be? I am at my wits end.

Thanks,

Baatzy

 

4 wheel drive I take it? If so did you pull the cover on the diff? Is that where the poping noise is coming from?

 

Yes, 4x4. I had it apart tonight and was looking at it, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. Everything looked good in there though, no metal shavings or chunks laying in there and no noise loud enough for me to hear it after I drained it and had the cover off. Before I drained it I could hear a very slight clunk every revolution of the driver side axle. I thought it sounded like it was coming from the diff so I pulled it apart, but like I mentioned above, the sound then went away and I couldn't see anything obviously wrong.

Baatzy

 

Refilled the diff this morning after letting the gasket maker stuff cure for about 15 hours. Comparing what came out with what went in I was about half or three quarters of a quart low on fluid.

Drove the truck to school without any obnoxious noises. I thought I could hear a faint popping/thumping noise on the left hand turns but not sure. I'll see if it acts up on the way back to the house.

Still not sure why that front axle is so hard to turn though.

Baatzy

 

Are all your sway bars up front okay, I mean the rubber bushing? That will cause noise also when turning. The front end is one wheel drive so one will turn harder then the other I believe. It's not posi or limited slip.

 

I did the mount bushings that are on the axle tube essentially, they're maybe 2 months old now. The end link bushings are all still normal, haven't had a chance to fix them.

The front diff is indeed open and seems to be working well but as a comparison I can jack the front end up with the hubs locked and spin the front left tire and it will remain spinning. The front right tire will only spin if I am spinning it. If I let go it will instantly stop.

Coming back from school today I got the same noise, but after listening to it again I would describe it as more of a "rubbing/popping" sound. Same place as always, sounds like its coming from the front right.

On another note I see I am draining front diff fluid out the right side, guess my internal seal is junk.

Do you think the internal seal could have gotten messed up causing all of this?

Baatzy

 

I have been trying to track this down and fix it over the last while and have been doing more testing.

After I filled the diff full the sound was still there, but seemed to be muffled.

Next step I took out the passenger's side axle and test drove, the sound was still there but appeared to be muffled some more.

Following this I swapped the wheel bearings side to side and removed the front drivers side axle shaft. When I pulled that apart I noticed that side will need a new outer stub shaft and seals to go along with that. The noise is still there driving around today.

I think my next step is to replace my rotors. I have been getting a slight vibration in the wheel when I get on the brakes semi-hard or harder so I suspect some warping or something similar is wrong with them already. See what that does with the situation.

That's all for now, but if you guys have any ideas let me know!

Thanks,

Baatzy