4WD won't work

[H8IMPORTS]

I bought a 1994 explorer 4 door 4wd from a friend of mine that lived up north who said the 4WD worked. I bought it and it need brakes on the front so I put them on. Put new hubs and brakes all the way around. So my question is, Why is my 4WD not working? You can hit the 4WD buttons on the dash and the lights come on like they are working. My front drivshaft and the right stub axle turns when you drive the explorer but the left won't move. I've tried to see if I can see anything wrong but I don't know anything about them. I have found that there is a vacum hose that goes to the transfer case that is cut and pluged off. I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. Anything to check and tell me to do? I don't know anything about these. I always built buggys and race cars so this is new to me.

Please help.
Chris

 

[H8IMPORTS]

Come on guys any help??? What is the vacum line for? Is it even a vacum line or is it a breather? Anything???

Any help Please?

Thanks
Chris

 

[MrShorty]

That would be a breather line, there's nothing vacuum operated in the t-case.

If the front driveshaft is getting power and one of the axleshafts is turning, I expect the problem is in one of the hubs. You didn't specify; are you still running the stock auto hubs?

 

[bikeboarder]

the auto hubs are nice to have but they are a week link in the 4 wheel drive. if you jack it up so all 4 tires are off the ground. put it in 4x4 and drive. either all 4 will spin. or you will hear clicking coming from the hubs if the drive shaft is turining and the tires are not. but if you have manual hubs. i couldent tell you.

 

[H8IMPORTS]

Yes I still the auto hubs. Where are the hubs located? When I put the front rotors on I didn't see anything. Are they behind all of that? Where can I get manual hubs? Sorry for all the questions but I know little about these. I will try and jack it up today and listen for some noise.

Thanks
Chris

 

[DeRocha]

I'm confused since you need to remove the hubs in order to remove the rotors... The hubs slide over the stub axle shafts and are held in place by the lugnuts.

You need to take a peak at Glacier's Brake repair diary for info and pics on these front driveline components.

 

[DeRocha]

Exactly how are you testing to see if the front driveshaft and stub axles are moving?

 

[H8IMPORTS]

Sorry stupid question about the hub. I was thinking the hubs were bigger. I feel like a DA for asking that question. LOL

As far as me checking it I was pulling forward and reverse and my friend was laying down as watching.

When I put the rotors back on the drivers side the axle was in to far in to get the clip back on so I pulled it out some and the clip went right on. Is the axle suspost to move any or not? I'm going to pull everything off this weekend and start looking and see if I see anything broke.

Thanks for everyones help sofar.
Chris

 

[DeRocha]

Sorry stupid question about the hub. I was thinking the hubs were bigger. I feel like a DA for asking that question. LOL

As far as me checking it I was pulling forward and reverse and my friend was laying down as watching.

When I put the rotors back on the drivers side the axle was in to far in to get the clip back on so I pulled it out some and the clip went right on. Is the axle suspost to move any or not? I'm going to pull everything off this weekend and start looking and see if I see anything broke.

Thanks for everyones help sofar.
Chris

The better way to check for shaft movement would be to put some tape on the front drive shaft and left/right stub axles... On a straight road engage 4x4 and after a few hundred feet stop and see if the tape moved. It would be normal with open diffs for just the left (driver's side) stub axle shaft to move since open diffs send power to the wheel with least resistance. When you indicated the front driveshaft and right stub axle moved it is puzzling as the right stub axle (passenger side) contains a much longer run as it connects to the diff via a U-joint whereas the left (driver's side) is s straight shot into the diff.

It is normal for the stub axle shaft to move requiring you to pull it out so you can install the "C" clip.

 

[H8IMPORTS]

My hubs look fine but I think one of them is bad. I swaped hubs (LH to the RH) and now the drivers sub axle moves and not the passerger side. So I'm fixen to get a stock hub and see if that fixes it. It should fix it.

Thanks Chris

 

[bikeboarder]

the manual hubs are cheeper and a lot stronger but if you are planning on buying used ones then get the auto hubs. they are easy to find at a junk yard. one other thing before you spend money on new hubs try to spray wd40 in the bad one and work it in if the old greese hardens up the autos might not want to work