this winter i had a chirping sound start slowly and constantly getting worse on my 90 bronco. it only happens when i am fully in 4wd hubs locked in or atleast acording to the dials anyhow. i have replaced both outer wheel joints both spindle bearings and all wheel bearings along with the according seals. the inner ujoint moves freely and solid. i had noticed water had gotten into my right hub area hence why i just 2 days ago did the ujoint spindle bearing seals and repacking hub bearings. the chirping does not happen at all when the transfer case is in 2wd and hubs locked. the other side i had done last summer due to getting it with a bad ujoint. after i put it back together and locked the hubs back in it didn't chirp at all right away but slowly it started comming back and now it is as if i had done nothing at all. had one of my co-workers listen as i drove my truck in 4wd and 2wd and he agreed it is comming from the right front.

it does have the warn lockout conversion kit on it currently. i have a milemarker setup comming in at the local autozone had them on my 84 bronco and loved them much easier to engage then these warn ones. so planning on installing them anyhow. they cost as much as a rebuild kit for the warn units.

also had noticed some water had mixed in with my front diff lube about 2 months ago. once noticed i had the fluid flushed out made no change at all to the noise. was still working at the time and only vehilce i can drive in the winter hard to tear it apart and not have a vehicle for acouple days.

if the hubs don't fix it needless to say i will have to drop the front diff and replace the inner ujoint and have the diff checked at a local driveline specialty shop. right seal and pinion seal are leaking alittle but not enough to usually notice.

not sure if i am on the right path or not. mainly wondering if anyone else has encountered this same situation.

 

Have a look at the long axle at the point where it passes through axle housing on the passenger side of the TTB assembly. Is the axle worn or polished clean in this area? If so, you are getting rub on the axle at this point most likely due to worn or damaged axle pivot bushings and/or balljoints. Axle pivots are the typical culprit since they keep the inboard ends of the two halves of the axle housing aligned with the rest of the suspension. If they don't, the resulting rub on the axle where it passes through the housing will give you the kind of chirp you are experiencing. And since the axle doesn't spin unless you are in 4WD, well you get the idea.

 

Two things

1. It might intreast you to know that you dont have to drop the diff to replace the inner U-joint. Its kind of a pain, but can be done. Of course, if you want to take a look in the diff or install a locker at this time, disreguard.

2. Have you ruled out the front drive shaft u-joints? The cherps would be alot faster on them. I know it sounds like its comeing from the right front. But sometimes sounds can be decieving. It's a whole lot eazier changing them.

 

well the axle shaft does move great and is well clear of the axle tubes no rubbing or even any sign of it.

unfrotunatly my truck does have the c-clip retained inboard axle so easiest way would be to drop the diff to do the inner ujoint. soo wish i had the externally secured axle i have seen on some of the d44 ttb units.

as far as i can tell the ujoints are good on the front driveshaft only one of them is greaseable and ofcourse i did grease that one. the other 2 still looked in good condition rotates smoothly.

just abit ago when i got home since i had the hubs unlocked i did engage the transfer case into 4wd ya i know not a good idea but i have been getting the noise even at slow speeds rather than just higher speeds as before. and noticed no noise not sure if it would actually make a difference or not though. it did appear as some water might of gotten into the lockout mechanism along with some grease and have heard that can mess them up. really wish i had access to a lift i could put the truck on and run it in 4wd to let everything spin and be under the truck to try and pinpoint the noise. also the trasnfer case fluid is good and at proper level. had checked it when this first started happening. i still find it wierd that when i put everything back together thursday on the pass side and backed it out in 4wd i had no noise like i normally did atleast initially anyhow till it slowly started comming back to the same levels it was at before.

 

Mine also has the c-clip on that side. (I think they all do) And you can change that inner u-joint without pulling the diff. It has to be done in place.

When you hear it, does it sound like it is timed to the wheel rotation? Like I said, if it was faster, it would be from the diff to the transfercase.

Does it make the noise with the wheels locked and in two wheel drive? If so, I would pull the front driveshaft and try it. How about putting the whole truck on blocks?

By the way, it doesnt hurt to put the truck in four wheel without the hubs. Infact, you should engage the four wheel (hubs or not) once a month. It will keep your diff gears and carrier lubed. One time I opened a front diff on a Scout II (Dana 44) and half of the ring gear and carrier was rusted solid. The other half (sitting in oil) looked like new!

 

ya i didn't think it would hurt it had seen some say it would though which seemed abit confuseing since no matter what the axle shaft is centered into the hub locked or not.

right now when it is snowing out i do typically have the hubs locked and in 2wd no noise at all. and hubs unlocked in 4wd no noise. i probably will pull the drive shaft off tomorrow and check it out. it is kinda consistent with wheel speed now but when it started it wasn't consistent with speed at all. it is a slow chirp and as speed increases it slowly picks up speed but it will only chirp with it in 4wd hubs locked. also when i first got the bronc the warn hubs where extremly hard to turn now they turn considerably easier so thinking maybe the springs have gotten soft in them honestly no idea how old they are a previouse owner switched it from auto to manual hubs. also when i hit the brakes now it really increases the sound level of the chirping. when driving if i let off the gas the chirping lets up abit.

twice i have hit the gas and it sounded like something was poping out of place but no idea what becuase it has only happened twice this entire winter

didn't even think about replacing the inner joint while in place would have to get one of those c-clamp style presses from harbor frieght i'm guessing.

also i do have a snowbear plow i run on it when it is snowing good, but the noise is the same wether it is on or not.

 

You shouldnt run in four wheel drive low range without the wheels locked because if you stomp it, you could twist off the axles or driveshaft. I once parked my Scout in a puddle which froze while I was in the bar. I came out at closing time and it wouldnt move. I put it in four low without locking the hubs. Twisted off both axles in the rear. I was wishing the bar wasnt closed about that time.

Another time (in the Bronco) I got stuck in deep gravil on the side of the road. I didnt feel like getting out of the truck just to move ten feet. Put it in four low and twisted the driveshaft off at the rear u-joint. Then it spun around under the truck and took out my fuel lines and some wiring. Believe me, you dont want to do that. Dont be as dumb as me!

Are you sure the hubs are locking? When you stomp it in snow do all the wheels spin?

 

well useing 4low would be awhole nother problem all together got that lovely electronic trasnfer case it does not like engageing 4low at all think i've gotten it to engage twice in the 2 1/2yrs i have owned this bronco.

as far as i can tell they are engageing enough to spin the wheels in the snow but it does seem abit weak. got it stuck while plowing about a month ago and they were all spinning just the left front seemed to throw more snow than the right front which seemed wierd and this is only the 2nd time i have gotten this bronco stuck the last time just didn't have enough power due to a cat that was sized for a small car. ya got true duals with no cats now.

 

also after doing some reading i remembered i had replaced the spindle locknuts. i didn't have any problems last winter but now with dealing with this current problem i had read there is typically some float in the lockout and now that i remember it used to have some movement. but now it is so tight i can barely get the outer lock ring off with how tight the lockout is to it. the new milemarker streetmaster series hubs and conversion kit are in now at my local autozone. was planning on just replacing the hubs but now thinking i may get the conversion kit also just to make sure. heck it is only $40 more going the full milemarker kit versus just a rebuild kit for these warn premium hubs that i never liked since i bought this bronc and used them.

does this lockout-locknut clearance sound like it could be whats cuasing my chirp?

 

I'm not sure what you mean, but if your in side the hub, you will probubly see if its the problem. The mile marker hubs are good quality, but I didnt like the part you twist. (Hard if your fingers are freezing) I got the warns that only turn 1/4.

 

ahh got to thinking about it myself and what i was thinking was maybe the hub locknuts were cuaseing a clearance issue with the lockout but thought more about it and if that was true it would do it all the time not only when my hubs are locked and in 4hi on the transfer case since that is the only time it will chirp.

ya these warn premiums are close to a full turn setup my main thing on these is they turn considerably easier now than when i got the truck. which does make me wonder if they are engageing fully or not. kinda thinking maybe a weak spring somewhere. some days almost needed a wrench just to turn them last winter now 2 fingers is all it takes.

i had the milemarker street master series on my 84 bronco and loved them 1/4 turn easy to turn in the dead of winter. never had any problems with them kinda wish i had kept them when i sold that bronco after it got totalled by a dang tree falling on it. even though hard to say if they would of worked on my 90 since factory it had the auto lockouts which that was fun finding out when i did the wheel bearings.