Clicking noise coming from front axle

[HippoNZ]

Hi All
Have just got into the whole 4wd game by buying myself a GQ Y60 and shes been awesome so far.
Recently got stuck in a deep river for about 20min which did the truck no favours. Replaced the oils and filters etc is there anything else someone can tell I would need to check? Anyhow I took apart the front hubs and pulled out the axle to clean everything and regrease but now that I've put everything back on when I drive I get a nasty clicking noise coming from my front axle/hubs????? Locked the hubs in no difference, put her in 4wd no difference and I also get the ocassional clunk. I'm assuming I stuffed up putting things back together as I havn't done it before. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[boggy2006]

does sound like it's the locking hubs. Does it actually engage them in 4wd? Perhaps a part got put back the wrong way around or misaligned.

[Maxhead]

I would go back and pull it all out to see if something was put in wrong as a start.

[HippoNZ]

Boggy/Nisspat - I am assuming they engage in 4wd as you would know you notice the difference while driving. Im reasonbly confident I put things back the right way but to be honest I don't know the wrong way either. I have pulled them apart 3 times now and each time the noise happens at either different speeds or the aggressiveness of the noise changes. Have searched the net and I managed to download a manual but isn't really informative for my level on mechanics (its low). Almost at the point of taking it to a garage but really wanted to see if I could do it myself first as with most things in this truck I want to learn it well for whenever S**T hit s the fan in the middle of no where.

[the evil twin]

Gotta be the FW Hubs I reckon... you didn't pack too much grease in there did you?

That will mean they engage but may not fully disengage.

[HippoNZ]

FW Hubs? Sorry not the best at this, can you describe it for me. I know I put in a fair amount of grease because I've read that more is better because people don't put enough in but maybe I went over board.

[Bigrig]

FW Hubs? Sorry not the best at this, can you describe it for me. I know I put in a fair amount of grease because I've read that more is better because people don't put enough in but maybe I went over board.

More isn't better when it comes to the wheel bearings mate, pack the inner rings of the bearing (where the rollers themselves are inside the outer housing) full of grease by "chopping" the bearing sideways into a blob of grease on your hand to make sure the bearings themselves are fully coated, and only a light smear on the outside (1-2mm thick at best) of the bearing and in the assembly, as when it heats up, you'll just end up blowing the seals ... my first thought other than something simply in the "wrong way" is one of the cotter pins hasn't seated properly and you are getting lateral movement of the hub/bearings (only small, but enough to cause the sound) - this would still let them lock in as such, but would not stop the movement locked or unlocked, and hence you still get the clicking either way. I'd definitely be pulling it apart again and making sure. When greasing the bearings did you replace the seals with new ones or put the old ones back in?? Did you do both inside and outside bearing (i.e. did you have to remove the brake caliper and rotor to get to the inner bearing, or just pulled the outer hub assembly apart??

[HippoNZ]

sorry Cotter Pins? Yip I removed the brake caliper and greased both bearings. I even pull the axle of out the axle housing. I just slapped the old seals back in the only thing that got replaced was the grease. If need be I can stick up some photos and mabe someone could show me where I've gone wrong?

[Bigrig]

Yep - throw up some photos mate - did you not remove any small round circlips (sorry, cotter pins wasn't quite right) off the axle stem to remove the bearings?

[HippoNZ]

Cool will post some pics when I get home from work. Righto yes I had one circlip to remove. When I put them back it I had to force it a bit so it would sit in the grove properly. One thing that I remember is that on the right wheel when I put in the bearing (the first one you pull out) if I push it in there too much with hands only the wheel becomes extremely hard to move. So maybe me putting on to much greasing has basically jammed it all up? Thanks for your efforts so far bigrig, really appreciate it

[Bigrig]

Cool will post some pics when I get home from work. Righto yes I had one circlip to remove. When I put them back it I had to force it a bit so it would sit in the grove properly. One thing that I remember is that on the right wheel when I put in the bearing (the first one you pull out) if I push it in there too much with hands only the wheel becomes extremely hard to move. So maybe me putting on to much greasing has basically jammed it all up? Thanks for your efforts so far bigrig, really appreciate it

No worries mate - Tony and crew will be along shortly also post work, so they will be able to guide you far better than me, but thought I'd give you some suggestions anyway ... good luck with it, and hopefully a simple one to sort out ...

[Finly Owner]

I noticed on fault in your description, you should not reuse seals. Replace them as they are only about $3-$5 ea even in NZ. Did you tap lock tag back over centre nut?

Tim

[HippoNZ]

Yeah rookie error on my behalf - will replace the seals. The lock tag over center nut? Are you refering to the circlip?

[the evil twin]

I think he means the PIA locking plate that goes over the wheel bearing retaining nut... most people chuck the GQ retaining nuts and lock washer as far away as possible and replace with the GU method. Much, much better.

GQ's are renowned for losing pre-tension on the wheel bearings because of that stupid lock plate idea

[HippoNZ]

Hi Guys
Anyone who is bored or curious may like to know the fix to my problem. After giving up I took it to the shop and it was the LFS wheel bearing was shagged. So driving it to work this morning bloody put a big grin on my face lol Got 2 new batteries and upgraded to the ones with more amps, also found the annoying squeling alarm and cut the wires. Still a few touch ups to go but glad shes going again. Long weekend this weekend so guna go on a trip to do some fishing and hunting and I've course a bit on mud and water on the way. Cheers for everyones input

[Bigrig]

Hi Guys
Anyone who is bored or curious may like to know the fix to my problem. After giving up I took it to the shop and it was the LFS wheel bearing was shagged. So driving it to work this morning bloody put a big grin on my face lol Got 2 new batteries and upgraded to the ones with more amps, also found the annoying squeling alarm and cut the wires. Still a few touch ups to go but glad shes going again. Long weekend this weekend so guna go on a trip to do some fishing and hunting and I've course a bit on mud and water on the way. Cheers for everyones input

Glad you got it sorted mate!