front diff makes noises, not sure what it is...

[hottrodder805]

so yeah, my front diff has been making noises kinda like a clicking sound, it has lockouts and its a 91, and the 4 wheel drive hasnt worked in years, checked the fluid and its full, checked the t-case and its full also, and reason why it didnt work before is the electric motor that engages it was worn out and the people i bought it from never fixed it, any ideas on what it is?

 

[lifted93xplorer]

Is the noise there when it's in two wheel and four wheel drive or only when 4x4 is engaged? If only in 4x4 the first thing I would check is the u-joints on the front driveline. If you don't get any movement from the joints still remove the driveline and make sure all the caps on each u-joint move freely without binding at all, you said 4x4 has not worked in a long time 1 or more of them is probally rusty or the needle bearings could be pitted or destroyed and I would replace all of them if 1 is faulty so you don't have to do it again in the near future. However if it makes noise in two wheel drive also I would jack up the front end (under the axle not frame) and do a shake down on the tires to see if you have sloppy bearings. It would be a good idea to check the bearings to see if one has a craked cup which would definatley cause a clicking noise. Write back as to whether it's constant or in 4x4 only.

 

[hottrodder805]

clicking is only when in 4x4 and accelerating, otherwise when i slow down it stops

 

[cmhaah06]

My ex does the same thing in 4x4 only and under acceleration. I am going to try to do some work on it this weekend. It almost sounds like we are having the same problem. I tried to replace my auto hubs with new ones and the problem continued. I think it may be the u-joints in the front drive shaft or in the axle. Anybody know if a problem like this could come from the t-case caused by the chain streching? I know the chances of this are slim but could chipped or missing teeth on the ring gear cause problems like this?

 

[explorerguy89]

well my 99 clunks really bad when i accelerate and it seems to only come from the drivers side wheel any ideas?

 

[jonnyb94explorer]

ball joint

 

[jonnyb94explorer]

of course I had that happen right before I broke a u- joint on the driver side axle

 

[lifted93xplorer]

The clunking noise can come from the transfer case but if it were my truck the first things I would check is all the u-joints on the front shaft and axle especially since the noise is there when under acceleration and they're getting a load on them. Also, jack the front up so the tires are about an inch off the ground and use a pry bar under the tire to try and move it up to see if there is slop. If you have movement try to watch the balljoints to see if one is moving. I wheel mine pretty hard and my drivers side lower ball joint needs to be replaced but it still don't make noise, so I have a hard time beliveing that's the cause of your noise not to mention it will not give you the clicking noise you are hearing. Good luck I hope it's not something expensive and check those u-joints.

 

[rhauf]

check *all* u joints for slop.. likely one is dry/bad. that means both driveshaft U joints and all 3 axle U joints. usually replacment of U joints fixes my clicking problems.

you might also try to take note if the click is once every revolution of the wheel, or once ever revolution of the driveshaft (approx 3 or 4 per wheel revolution) this may help locating the problem as well.

also if it does it more when turning etc, and it it does it with the hubs locked but not the transfercase, and the other way around.