Clunking in 4WD, suspect hub not locking properly

[wojtech]

Hi All,

Just taken the GQ Bush Beast out for a test on the dirt.

Only just bought this vehicle so there are a lot of things I don't know about its history.

After locking the hubs and driving in 4H I got a loud clunk every so often and a feeling like the front drive line was disengaging for a split second then coming back in. I went back to 2H with hubs still locked and got the same clunk but more often but didn't feel as heavy in the car. I then went back into 4H and engaged airlocker and this time when it clunked it seemed to pulled to one side for a split second then drive straight until the next clunk. I also tried driving with hubs unlocked and transfer in 4H, no clunking and no noise from diff.

Recently I overhauled the swivel hubs. The free wheeling hubs had water in them and after reassembly I noticed one wouldn't lock in until I gave the wheel a turn by hand.

I suspect this hub is the clunking .

Anyone have any other ideas? No metal in diff, locker seems to engage disengage OK.

[YNOT]

Sounds like either a CV or a hub. Are the hubs auto or manual?

Tony

[HippoNZ]

I had the same problem once alongside the wheel bearings being stuffed, replaced the wheel bearings and the clunk went away. Check your wheel bearings by jacking up your truck and see if you can move your wheel horizontally and vertically, if there's a bit of play (may only be on one side) then your wheel bearing may need replacing. when you have too much play your hubs can't engage properly and hence they have a tendency to slip every so often. This is also why you can hear the clunk when in 2H. A good place to start as wheel bearings are cheaper than hubs if you try replacing things by trial and error.
My 2 cents worth anyway, good luck!

Brett

[wojtech]

Manual hubs, I just repacked the bearings and cv's whilst doing the swivel hubs, bearings seemed OK, Cv's OK all the axle splines were OK.
I just pulled both hubs off to check for metal fragments, nothing. Please tell me its not the Diff!!!

[timbar]

had the same problem turned out to be the bearings worth checking them out or even just repacing them to be sure to be sure

[wojtech]

Can a faulty CV make this kind of racket, I just drove it down the road and on turning it made the clunking every time, full lock going real slow it made a ratchety sound. But could a CV be that bad that it feels like the axle is breaking??

[timbar]

yeah sounds like cv or even bearing jack it up and check for movement on the hub it could just be bearing i thrashed out 1 of my bearings on the drivers side and i thought it was the cv but it was just a bearing what a releif that was .....

[timbar]

is the noise the same even in a staight line or only when u turn ?

[wojtech]

It happens in a straight line too but not as often, others have mentioned wheel bearings but they wouldn't be the issue as they spun smooth after repacking and preloading.
When I had the axle(s) out the other day what I noticed with the drivers side (short side) axle was that when I had it out and and turned to what would be past full lock in the car, it bound up and would not do its cv thing, when straight or at mild angles it "seemed" to turn alright in my hands.

[HippoNZ]

you may well be right wojtech, but I have a gut feeling it maybe the bearings. your story just sounds so similar to mine. I was sure when I had my bearings off they were fine, turns out they weren't. Took a mechanic to convince me to replace the bearing and problem solved. Not guaranteeing this is the fix tho, just don't over look the possibilities. Like timbar said, the simptons sound so much like a CV issue but gratefully they weren't! lol