Is this right?

[AdamDude04]

Okay, so I've been having a weird loud "clunk" of metal on metal on the front end durring braking under 18mph.

The other day we had a snow storm, and decided to lock the front end.. well the driver side hub "clicks" into the LOCK position as it does the FREE position. Passanger side, it clicks into FREE, but just moves into LOCK with no noticable click. Thinking both issues may be related, I took a look today.

I did take apart the passanger side hub to see why it's not clicking into the lock position. The turn key works fine and "clicks" when seperated from the hub assembly. Everything looked good inside. No broken peices or missing parts...

So I did the lift test, lifting both tires off the ground and locking both sides. I spun both sides and only the front wheels moved. Axle and front driveshaft did not move on both sides. Then I locked both sides. Started with driverside and after a slight rotation it locked and spun the axle and front driveshaft. However the passanger side axle from the front diff did not spin.

Went to passanger side (also locked) and spun the tire. It too locked in and the front axle and driveshaft started to turn when the wheel was spun. However, the driver side did not spin.

To my understanding, the front end should be locked on both sides?? So if I spin either the passanger or driver side tire, it should also transfer that motion not only to the transfer case (seeing driveshaft spin) but also the opposite wheel?

Is this right or am I wrong?

What's confusing to me is each tire spins freely and both will rotate the driveshaft but they aren't locked as a couple..

 

[Krafty]

its an open differential meaning the the two sides are not locked together, this allows you to turn with the front end locked and not destroy your axle.

 

[AdamDude04]

Wooo okay good to know.

So what could be the possible cause for the lack of a "Click" into the LOCK position? It did it this past summer (durring a lot of camping trips). Last time I used it was probably around September. So about 3 months ago..

 

[Krafty]

for the clunk I would recommend looking at your calipers, radius arms,shocks and spindles.

my bronco had a clunk when slowing down or hitting small bumps but on mine it was because the one shock was loose and shifting up and down in the pocket.

 

[Krafty]

if the hubs are working correctly it shouldn't click into the lock position, only into the free position, once you turn it away from free it releases the mechanism that drives the wheel, once you turn it back to free it has to hold the mechanism away from the spline gears which is on a spring, if it ever doesn't click into free then thats when you have a problem.

 

[AdamDude04]

I was wondering about the shocks.. On some of the bolts, I can't get em tight enough to really squeeze down the rubber bushings. That's with using a 3' breaker bar or a large rubber mallat.

So I went out and tested the 4WD on the snow packed streets in my neighborhood. Everything worked smoothly. One last thing.. Do I "FREE" the hubs before pressing the 4x4 out of 4WD? Or does it matter? I've always turned off 4WD then unlock the hubs after a few feet OR when I go from slick mud to dry dirt roads back to slick mud (while camping usally) or snow packed roads to dry roads and back..

 

[Krafty]

its not that big of a deal to leave your hubs locked for a while especially if you are using your 4x4 frequently, ( ie snowstorms )

just try to avoid very tight turns on dry roads. and the more you use your 4x4 the more often you should grease the u joints in the front drive shaft and front axle shafts.

 

[Seabronc]

Ditto Krafty. When driving in varying road conditions during the winter, I leave my hubs locked and just pop in and out of 4x4 as is appropriate. You can't turn quite as sharp as with them unlocked, but you will feel it complaining if you try. It doesn't matter which you do first when engaging or disengaging the manual hubs. Just keep in mind that running with the hubs engaged is tougher on your drive train and costs in mileage due to the extra drag on the system. So only do it when conditions warrant and not on extended dry pavement runs. I always use 4x4 on snowy streets since the front tires brake harder than the rear which tends to want to make the rear wheels want to be where the front wheels are.

Good luck,

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