Need advice about my front end...
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Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 44
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Need advice about my front end...
Hello people, I am hoping someone can give me advice I need on this matter. When inspecting my sway bar bushings the other day I was just looking things over and I noticed that when I grabbed a hold of the front drive shaft (coming off the transfer case) It spins nice and freely as well as the passenger side drive axle (going to the wheel) but the drivers side drive axle did not move at all. When I grab the passengers side drive axle I can spin it with my hands but when I grab the drivers side drive axle and try to spin it, I can't. I would think that when I spin the drive shaft from the transfer case and rotate it, that the both drive axles would turn with it, but only 1 spins and the other does not move. Is this correct or could there be something wrong? Any advice would be great. Thanks. Oh by the way it is a 2002 Ford F350 4X4 Superduty.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,800
Likes: 52
From: Southern Colorado
It sounds like the driver's side hub may still be locked, either due to the vacuum unlock system not working, or the dial being turned to 'lock'. Unlock the hub, and cycle the 4WD system a few times on the road, and try it again. I presume your test was done with all four wheels on the ground?
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Freshman User
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Yes all 4 on the ground. So what your saying is that both front drive axles going to the wheels should be able to spin freely as well as the drive shaft from the transfer case if all is working correctly? I plan on removing and taking apart and cleaning my hubs soon. I have a link that explains how to do it but I didn't plan on doing it right away but if you think something is wrong then I may have to make it a priority.
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Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2010
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I could manually lock them but that is not much of a concern to me right now. I actually don't think I will need four wheel drive any more this year. My main concern is driving around with the shafts spinning which causes unwanted wear and tear & poor fuel milage. So if there is a problem with it I will fix it sooner than later. Parts are only about $20.00 from my local Ford dealer. Its just the weather I need to wait for. It is currently raining right now and the next few days are not looking good either.
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 17,398
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From: Whittier, CA
I think it would be better to have them both locked, than to have one free and one hung up. Manually lock them until you can get time to work on it, and then reseal both sides while you are at it. Otherwise the other side will be pestering you next year.
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Freshman User
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Thanks for the help guys. I ended up getting the one that was locked to free up and unlock. I had to turn the **** a couple times back and fourth with channel locks and took a rubber mallet to it and smacked it up a bit and presto..... its now unlocked. Now I can maintenance the hubs when I have a day off from work so I can catch up on drinkin' some beers and that will be a nice little bench project in my garage.
