4 wheel drive hub

[Marshall402]

I have a 94 explorer limited and im having problems with the 4 wheel drive hubs. they were switched over to warn manuel's years ago and the inside "teeth" on pasenger side wore down or looked to be shaved away. I put some mile markers on there as they were half the price and now i hear a zinging i guess you could call it as i drive down the road. i drove it today and after awhile the hub was so hott you could not touch it. Should they get that hot and what is that zinging sound? Is the hub shot ? I packed the inner and outer bearings the day before and they are all greased nicely and everything is put together correctly, i just cant figure out this sound and the extreme heat coming off them. thank you if anyone has some insight or ideas?
-Marshall

 

[Roadrunner777]

Hub engaged or not? Transfer case in/out 4x4?

The likely answer is not and out, so I'll offer an answer based on that. Since you have 2 hubs that did or are doing this, the problem is going to be on the spindle side of the equation. One thing I would do is take both front wheels and hubs off, supporting by the frame, and visually inspect the spindles, axles, and u-joints, comparing the sides. Compare again if turned hard left or right. I think one of your axles is going goofy in turns causing misalignment to the hub and thus, the friction and failure.

If this is the case, I would suspect a u-joint and/or spindle bearing. I have had a u-joint fail like this, and it was not obvious at all until I tried doing so slow, very tight turns with the hub engaged. And I didn't really know it was the u-joint until I had the axle in my hand and realised how tight it was.

 

[Marshall402]

thank you for the reply. the hubs were in the 'free' position when this happened. Where is the spindle bearing and how would i know if its bad ? The u joint on the passenger side is fairly new the guy who put it in put one in with a grease zert and it is fully greased, driver side has no zert and may need to be replaced.

So im guessing the hubs are not suppose to be so hot you cant touch them without gloves on?

Im no mechanic but i will sure try to fix whatever i can.

thank you

 

[Marshall402]

I just read the "how to" by tedj on spindle, u joint and bearings. Wow if i need to do that stuff im not sure i can. Roadrunner since you answered me can i do this myself or am i going to get in over my head on this deal and may be better off taking it to a mechanic?

 

[Naasau]

Remember that there is a third u joint in the middle, on the passenger side axle. Everything on the TTB can seem really overwhelming, but if you already know how to pull everything out to repack the inner/outer bearings, then there isn't any reason that you can't do the rest on your own. If you're nervious about spindle bearings or u-joints, you can always pull the parts out and take them down to a CarQuest/Napa/whatever and have them press out the old stuff and install the new stuff for you. I have a shop press in my gage, and just because I'm a bit paranoid, I had the guys down the street at a shop press in my new spindle bearings. It just seemed like a good idea. The rest I was able to do with big damned C-clamps.

Also, if you are going through all the trouble of taking everything apart, you might consider doing the c-clip eliminator mod. That way, if you ever have problems with the passenger side axle or u-joints, then it will be much easier to service.

Info for that is here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256302

I know that seems even more intensive, but to get at the center u-joint for servicing, I would remove the whole passenger axle anyway. As a side question, is the excess heat and noise coming from both hubs equally while in 2wd?