New noise in 4wd....

[BigRAWesty]

It's a hard one. If stock manual hubs there is nothing that can really go wrong unless it's stripped the locking collar that slides on and off the spline.. they usually smash out before that happens though..
I'm sorry to say but I'm thinking you'll be looking deeper.. it's really not to hard.
MudRunnerTD has done a brilliant build thread of it all with like 100 pictures so it's quite easy to follow..

A good time to check bearing grease and conditions.. and more importantly seals..

[Patrol'n]

It's a hard one. If stock manual hubs there is nothing that can really go wrong unless it's stripped the locking collar that slides on and off the spline.. they usually smash out before that happens though..
I'm sorry to say but I'm thinking you'll be looking deeper.. it's really not to hard.
MudRunnerTD has done a brilliant build thread of it all with like 100 pictures so it's quite easy to follow..

A good time to check bearing grease and conditions.. and more importantly seals..

Oh well if it turns out to be the centre, then it might be a good time to throw a locker in..... have to wait and see

[BigRAWesty]

Hopefully it's not the center. If your shaft seals have worked it should be fine. You cv's and cv bearings are sealed off from the center and wheel bearings..
So you can think of it like 3 sections..
Outter is wheel bearings.. if it was these there would be noise all the time..
Middle is cv, cv hub needle bearing. This is what I'm thinking may be the issue..
The middle is the diff center.
The center has the oil. The others run grease..

[tuckertrucker]

X2 to that. If it were in this so called second section, rotation (ulitmately causing the noise) would only occur if you a) lock the hubs and/or b) engage 4WD.

[Patrol'n]

Hmm, how much does CV repair usually run nowadays?

[Patrol'n]

Maybe I shouldn't be lazy and do it myself, never done this job before, be something new to learn I suppose 🤔

[tuckertrucker]

itll depend entirely on whats wrong and what needs to be done - as with most things in a car. But I'd say around $500?

shouldnt be too hard if youve got the right tools

[Chubba]

Question. This diognoese could also be taken back through to the transfer case via the drive shaft with these symptoms.
Would that be correct and would that only go back as far as the drive shaft bearing in the transfer case?

[tuckertrucker]

Question. This diognoese could also be taken back through to the transfer case via the drive shaft with these symptoms.
Would that be correct and would that only go back as far as the drive shaft bearing in the transfer case?

I could be wrong, but inside the transfer case I thought the drive shaft drives the sprocket and chain. And the sprocket on the main shaft floats on bearings on the mainshaft (like in a manual transmission). But yes you're right with that. As long as either the transfer is in 4WD or the hubs are locked the drive shaft will turn.

Based on this diagnoses, the problem could be anywhere from the CV to the transfer.

[Patrol'n]

Ok, given it could be anywhere from transfer case to front axle, I think I'm going to get a mechanic who's a friend of the family to have a look as I've been down this road before of pulling things apart and replacing stuff only to find out it was something else entirely... It gets unnecessarily expensive at times. Whether I do the repair work or pay him will have to be decided on my motivation and potential cost I think.

Unless anyone can offer some sort of easy tests I can perform to try and narrow it down? (Just don't want to have to spend a weekend pulling stuff apart that doesn't need to be pulled apart)