Inner, outer or CV?

[taxx]

Ok it is getting to the point of doing something about it real soon. Coming from the front drivers side wheel I have a bad vibration(not the tire). It started at highway speeds as a vibration and an occasional grinding(possible a bearing). At that time if I engaged the 4x4 and turned on pavement it sounded like the front would explode (I know dont use 4x4 on pavement...), but anyway, during wheelin yesterday I accelerated the wear and tear and it would clunk and squeek in 4x4 while turning and climbing stuff (CV joint?), then on the way home it was the worst grinding/squeeking noise i had ever heard and alot of vibration. I replaced the outer hub/bearing assembly last november, I wouldn't hink it would be shot already, but maybe. Short of tearing it all apart how can you tell if it is outer, inner, or cv? Or something else? Should I replace both the outer and CV axle just to be on the safe side since it could have damaged the other?

 

[mrboyle]

The easiest way to tell is to jack up the front and rotate the wheel by hand. While spinning the wheel have someone turn the steering wheel and see if you feel any binding in the axle joint.

 

[jimbo74]

since you also wheel, it could be a torn boot and possibly a joint with no lube..... (i see this a lot on cars)

 

[gijoecam]

Ditto on the bad CV joint.... good news is that they're not usually too difficult to replace. Bad news is, I have never changed on on an EX, so I have no idea on this one... Symptoms sound right for a bad joint, for sure...

-Joe-

 

[JoshC]

I'd give Mike thought a try first. If it is your cv shaft, no biggy, they are simple to change. Cake since you just put the lift on!!

Happy trails!!

 

[taxx]

Ok, I jacked it up and tried wiggling the wheel and I couldn't get it to budge (but I am not a 4K lbs vehicle), Tried the turning thing and it spun fine. Does that mean it is a bearing? I guess I need to dissasemble it and find out what it is. But it has to be either the hub, or the cv shaft, there is nothing else in there. Guess I will buy both parts and take back what I don't use. Probably should replace the wheel seal too while I am in there.

 

[taxx]

bump, what do ya'll think?

 

[GJarrett]

I don't know about it being a CV joint. Most of the time a CV has gone out on my vehicles, it makes a clicking noise at first instead of a grinding/squealing noise...

The following are simplified generalizations, but from the noises I have heard over the years, usually when these parts start to go south on you, you'll hear:

• CVs click
• Hubs and bearings grind/squeal
• Ball Joints squeak like granny's ol' guest bed
• U-Joints squeak, vibrate, then clunk when the needle bearings get shot right before total failure

Remember, these are only generalizations, but maybe they can help you a bit toward where to focus.

Maybe the CV is causing it, but I would think it would have started clicking at some point beforehand. If it were the hub/bearing, when you jacked the vehicle up and tried to wiggle your tire, you should have felt some play up and down. If it was your tie rods, you'd have been able to wiggle the tire left to right, but not have the grinding noise. A failing U-Joint could cause vibration, noise, and clunking; but it would affect the whole front and not just one side. I'm stumped.

Good luck and let us know once you've found the problem.

 

[Robert]

A bad ball joint will cause a bad vibration. I would remove the front driveshaft and then take it for a drive. If the vibration is still there you will know it isn't a U-joint. If you have four high quality jack stands, you could get all four tires off the ground and let it idle in gear to see if you can pin-point where the noise is coming from while watching for odd movements. If you have access to a lift even better.

 

[taxx]

I know it isn't u-joints. It was doing this after the lift before the shaft got put back in. All my u-joints were replaced when shafts were lengthend. Ball joints? i don't know, could cause vibration, but wouldn't cause grinding. I am going to have to dig into it and see what is going on. i bought a new hub and a new cv shaft, If I don't use one or both, I will take them back. The core on the shaft was more than the shaft! I feel it is a bearing, just from past experience of bearings going out. but I don't think it is the outer hub bearing since it is only 8 months old and I inspected it when I had it off last. So I guess we will just have to see! Thanks for all your help guys! I will let you know what I find!

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

take care of it now or pay like me

sorry this one youll have to turn your head to look at

bearings started going out on the trail. got home went to doctor to fix back from weekend and on the way back from teh pharmacy "clunk" rotoro was red hot and caliper bracker was bent. cv gone and bearings melted into big mess. the thing is i want to fix it before but was set on figuring a way to service them. found out that hub replacment is $175 from discount auto and i would have had to do it anyway. cv ran $85 for rebuilt unit.

cv axle is not hard to replace.

 

[taxx]

Originally posted by BUCHVILLEMAN
take care of it now or pay like me

sorry this one youll have to turn your head to look at

bearings started going out on the trail. got home went to doctor to fix back from weekend and on the way back from teh pharmacy "clunk" rotoro was red hot and caliper bracker was bent. cv gone and bearings melted into big mess. the thing is i want to fix it before but was set on figuring a way to service them. found out that hub replacment is $175 from discount auto and i would have had to do it anyway. cv ran $85 for rebuilt unit.

cv axle is not hard to replace.

Holy crap, Mine isn't too far from doing that. I got the smae prices on those parts. Guess I will do it tonight, should be able to do it in under an hour.

 

[gijoecam]

OK, I understand that the gold dust was at one time a CV joint, and it puked it all over the inside of the wheel, but why in God's green earth is the wheel at such an odd angle? Something tells me that that much negative camber doesn't help the trail performance?!?!

-Joe-

 

[taxx]

if the bearings go out the hub has nothing else to do but fold.

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

Something tells me that that much negative camber doesn't help the trail performance?!?!

on the contrary i get great approach angles---sideways!
i started calling sidekick but the wife didnt think it was that funny....

the thing that sucks is that i wanted to grease my bearings but i couldnt... onthe other hand the bearings got about 150k on them and thats better than any truck that has been in my fmaily as they are usually driven in sand snow and mud.

 

[taxx]

Status:

Pulled it apart to find the bearing on the CV shaft was very sloppy, plus the wheel seal was nasty looking and the outer bearing had been undergoing a lot of stress. Replaced them all three and the grinding and a major portion of the sloppyness/vibration is gone. Still vibrating though. THe only thing up front that hasn't been rebuilt/replaced are the ball joints and tie rod ends. I guess the vibration could be from the ball joints.

It won't budge with the wheel on, but what I found when it was al apart was that you could just barely tap the ball joint post thingy and it would wiggle alot. Is that normal or should it be pretty tight?

 

[Robert]

Maybe the sloppiness from a bad ball-joint accelerated the wear on your bearings? I know about the bad vibration since Sinjin had a balljoing go out on the Arizona run in March. He said it had a very bad vibration and it turned out to be a bad ball joint.

 

[taxx]

Originally posted by Robert
Maybe the sloppiness from a bad ball-joint accelerated the wear on your bearings? I know about the bad vibration since Sinjin had a balljoing go out on the Arizona run in March. He said it had a very bad vibration and it turned out to be a bad ball joint.

I am thinking that is about the only thing left. When I get this test knocked out and I am done with this class wednesday, maybe I will pull it apart again. At 101K they have to be near the end of their life?>

 

[JoshC]

At 101K they have to be near the end of their life?>

I had about 112 on mine, they were shot. Mine was really bad, bad enought that i actually pulled off the side of the road cause i thought my wheel was going to fall off. I was close to an NTB tire shop and they do free front end checks and he showed me the play they had, it was a good inch of movement! It's not a bad job if you have the BJ press.

Happy trails!!

ps how do you get someones name in the title of the quote??

 

[GJarrett]

Originally posted by taxxman2k

It won't budge with the wheel on, but what I found when it was al apart was that you could just barely tap the ball joint post thingy and it would wiggle alot. Is that normal or should it be pretty tight?

I'm not quite sure what the "ball joint post thingy" is (upper or lower?) but heck no it shouldn't have any play. Another thing is that when I replaced my lower ball joint and had my wheel assembly apart, I noticed that one of my upper control arm bushings was shot and the other was completely loose. The nut holding the bolt had backed out a couple of threads. I tightened it back up and that removed the last little bit of vibration. If I were you I'd check for looseness in all of the bolts and nuts that hold your stuff together up there, hint.