I have a new problem today. It's been about 2 weeks since I put new u-joints on my front axles. I also replaced the big axle seals. Yesterday after plowing some snow, I noticed kind of a grinding noise coming from the drivers front wheel. When I unlocked the hub, the noise went away. To my thinking, the possibilities are minimal. Ice? Nope. Garaged it to thaw then drove it and the same problem. Brakes? Nope. Pulled it all apart, all is good. That leaves the seal and the Warn locking hub. We got all 4 wheels off the ground and let the wheels spin to try to narrow it down. Using a metal pipe as a stethescope, I hear a slight squeek coming from the area of the seal. I'm figuring that it's possible that under weight, it could get worse. Then I turned the wheel hard left. At about 3/4 of the way to full turn, I start hearing a clunking noise in the knuckle, and the tire starts to bind and try to stop. As I turn it the rest of the way, the clunking gets worse and the drag is enough so that the tire stops turning. It's definitely Not the morman "my hubs are locked so the front axles clunk a little bit when turning" noise. It's fairly loud and has a definite bind to it. I pulled the locking hub from the other side to compare both sides. The look fine. I did snap off one of the screws that holds one together, so I just ordered a set of Mile Markers to replace them as well as a new seal. Anybody have any other thoughts??

 

And the main hub assembly is fine too. Even the needle bearing on the back side. And the outer shaft also is fine and fits into the needle bearing

 

i suppose it would be best to start by pulling that hub apart. I don`t know how old those warn hubs are but the came with an updated version for the internals.The groove that sits against the hub assembly , right at the back of the warn hub, is not deep enough. It cause that ring to fall out so you will not have 4wd. the newer hub is a better design. There was multiple times when i turned my hub to lock i would not get engagement. When i pulled the hub apart that ring had come out of the groove and was just floating around.
Also you need to make sure you assembled that hub spring in the correct order when you replaced your axle u-joint. If you put that spring in the wrong sequence you will always have that hub locked. Not good.

 

When you say the large axel seal...which one did you get?
If it is the one I think you mean, I have seen the wrong ones sent out and there is no turning the inner portion so it starts grinding away when the axle turns.

 

The big seal is the one that's a PITA to get onto the outer shaft them slides into the nuckle. Got one from Partsgeek. Was National brand I think. Just ordered an SKF28600 from Amazon. Also ordered the Mile Marker hubs. I have it all taken apart right now. Odd thing it the Warn hub on the passenger side that hasn't been giving me any trouble some metal shavings on the inside. By the size of them, it looks like they could be part of the outer spring. But that's intact. On the one with the problem, it looks clean. And I can't see how it would be possible for it to skip a tooth, and there's also nothing that looks worn. Really odd

 

Well it looks to be the right one. Everything else you mentioned that you checked is where i was going to go. Bearing, etc.
Although, now that I read your OP again.... It sounds like the axle joints are hitting on the inside of the knuckle. I wonder if you have excessive play in the bearing. Bearings may not show a lot of shavings but just be worn down enough to give play to the axle shaft.
I would put the whole truck up on jack stands that are supporting the truck by the axle housings. Put it in 4x4 then crank the wheel over and then shut it off. Leave it in neutral and then spin the front tires by hand to see if you can find where it is hitting.

 

Well at this point, I'm gonna leave it up in the air for the day. Parts will come in today. I'll put it back together and see what happens. The whole thing makes no sense. But you bring up a good possibility. Maybe for some reason the joint on the shaft was hitting something. Hopefully I figure it out, or at least fix it with the combination of new parts and the reassembly

 

i had a similar noise in 01 f-250. it was the hub bearing. like others have said, the bearing may not look damaged, but it could be warn enough to have play and grind

 

Are the hub bolts torqued correct. If your having interference with the hub or u assy that would tell me that something isn't in a plain. You had it completely apart, correct

Revisit the hub torques, if they were loose or forgotten that would do it!

Denny

 

Update: Driving me crazy today. Pulled it all apart on the driver's side. Installed the new seal on the outer shaft. Brand new set of locking hubs. Fire it up start running the tires, turn the wheel and it starts clunking and stops the tire. Starting to think Hub assembly. So, to verify, we swapped the hub assemblies from side to side. Walla!!! Problem is now on the passenger side. Great news. Went and got a new Timken hub assembly, installed it. Noticed a leaky brake caliper, so I replaced that too. Get it all back together, fire it up. Get all 4 tires spinning, turn to the right. SAME DAMN THING!!! Clunking and will stop the tire. But now it gets better. I also start getting it on the other side as well. You can hear the noise in the knuckle. So, next step, I pull the cover off of the diff. The lube looks a bit odd, but may be because it's synthetic, but more of a brown than black, Everything inside looks like new. I was hoping to find a tooth from something laying in the bottom, but no such luck. I'm really at my wits end here.

 

I also ran it for a minute with the cover off to see if anything looked loose or moving strangely or anything. Everything in the diff ran smoothly

 

I also ran it for a minute with the cover off to see if anything looked loose or moving strangely or anything. Everything in the diff ran smoothly

 

Did you recently change brake rotors, and describe the build date.

 

No new rotors. Build date 4/01

 

I took a short video, but it won't let me load it here