Front hub clicking?

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

I said the hub, but I'm not certain. It is fairly easy to hear with the truck running and moving veeerrry slowly. It started today after I had it in 4wd a little bit, riding around in the field, and doing quite a bit of spinning on a muddy hill. I always check to make sure my hubs are locked fully, and when I was spinning I was watching to see if both front tires would pull(not at the same time though, Dontcha just love those open diffs ) which they did. The diff fluid is full and very fresh, I just changed it about 2 weeks ago. Any ideas? Am I just paranoid? TIA











Steve

 

[jlhartak]

Steve,



Have you repacked the hubs/bearings lately? Things could be a little dry in there, may be a clutch spline rattling there is also a spring that may be broken. Jack up the frt and turn the wheel by hand to isolate the noise, if it is the hub a teardown is in order. May also just be dirt/rocks in the brakes or axle u-joints. Hope this helps.

 

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

Thanks,





yeah, it has been awhile since it has been tore down. I can't remember how long but it has probably been at least 3 years, maybe alot more. What all is involved with repacking the hubs/bearings?







Steve

 

[RDusch]

Steve,

When you get the rotors off remove the spindles and check the needle bearings, there probably dry as a bone thats where all my front end rattling was coming from



Rick D

 

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

Okay, some more info.



I had someone to drive the truck while I walked beside it to see if I could hear it, sometimes you might not be able to hear it(unlocked), it is alot more noticeable, more frequent; with the hub locked. I jacked it up and could not get it to make the noise, locked or not. I did notice that the pass. side(whole wheel, hub assenbly) is tight, the drivers side has some wiggle to it? It will wiggle more in certain degrees of rotation than others. I looked at my service manual and the hubs in it do not look anything like mine, so no help there. How difficult is it to pull the hub? can you do it without taking anything else off?



Will it be okay to drive, I really have to drive my truck.







Thanks, Steve

 

[cerberusiam]

If you have movement in the one hub and rotor and its not the king pins either the wheel bearings are going or they need some slack taken out of them with the adjusting nuts. Pulling the hub and rotor is fairly simple. Loosen and remove the brake caliper. Pull the cap of the hub and remove the snap rings that hold the axle in and the locker in the hub. The whole locker will slide out of the hub and the you wil have access to a large nut on the spindle that holds hub on. Inside the spindle is the torrington roller bearing that can cause some problems. After the hub is off you will see the bolts that hold the backing plate and the spindle on. It sounds like you may have a bad bearing and the clicking noise is the rollers dropping and hitting each other from the slack. Check it out before you go far. If the bearing goes it could cost you hub, spindle, and stub axle. Hope it just needs adjustment.

 

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

Man, this stinks. I really need to find out what this is. I'm going to church tonight, so I'll see if it does it anymore.



cerberusiam- I was asking about the locking hub, I think that it is in there, It does it alot more when it is locked. Cant you just take the bolts out of the locking hub and pull it out? I wish my service manual had the same kind of hub as I do. It's a factory service manual, It shows a hub that has a plastic piece on the outside with 3 screws around the circum. Mine has the plastic dial in the center. How much does a bearing job usually cost?



repacking= $



complete bearing job= $





Thanks, Steve

 

[cerberusiam]

Most but not all the manual hubs have 6 allen head screws around the outside. Once you remove the screws all that is holding the cap on is a rubber O-ring to seal the cap to the hub. You should be able to wiggle it off fairly easy and see whats going on. It is not uncommon the locker is falling apart or just dirty and sticking. Once you pull the cap off and the lock out drive it again and see if the noise is still there. Don't drive it too far because the axle shaft will want to move back and forth but up and down for a 100 yards or so will not hurt. The next thing is to take the slack out of the wheel bearings if you can and see if that helps. Once the lock is out you will be able to see if you have more problems. Metal shavings and dryed up grease is a good indication there are bearing problems and you need to pull the hub. Depending on your area and parts stores, you should be able to rebuild seals and bearings in a hub for around a $100 bill. A lot will depend on your parts stores and their markup. Don't be intimidated by the job as its fairly simple. Packing the bearings is easy also. You can do it by hand or go to the local parts store and buy a bearing packer to use with a grease gun. I suppose the reson your manual doesn't show the right hubs is it was printed for the automatic locking hubs and the vacuum engage on the gassers. Not a big problem. One of us should have a schematic or links to a web site that shows it. PM or email me if you want and I will drag together what I can. If it is a bearing better catch it soon. The last one that sawed throught the spindle and stub shaft cost almost $700 to put back together right. The owner was really unhappy.

 

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

This is kinda cornfusin I drove it to church and back tonight, about 35 miles total, and I could not hear it. I even had my sister to drive it while I walked beside it to listen, backwards, forwards, locked, unlocked= nothing I could hear. Then I put it in 4wd and drove it around and I THINK I heard it. It is hard to hear with the mighty Cummins running. I'll pull the locking hubs sometime this week and see if I can tell what is going on. All this worrying and it may just need to be greased. Any special spec of grease needed?



Some diagrams would be nice.







Thanks alot, Steve

 

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

ok this is as far as I got. I can't go any farther without the socket for the nuts(?). It was not dry at all in there and It doesnt make much noise at all when I turn it, only a click clack sound, like the rollers tapping or rolling together. At this stage, I can move the stub shaft, maybe 1/8-1/4" is this OK?[/IMG]#ad
















Steve

 

[CAROLINA CUMMINS]

Wow I just talked to my grandpa and he said that it has NEVER had a bearing job; that he knows of,and he drove it until 2 1/2 years ago when I bought it. It is a wonder that it even has grease in there:--) I should go ahead and do both sides while I'm in there, right? Should I open a new thread? I'm going to need some help(part #'s, diagrams etc..... ) I only have 2 weeks till college starts.









Steve

 

[RDusch]

Steve,



That kinda movement from axle is normal,



The locking hub assembly pictured above should'nt have any grease on it just a light coating of oil, grease will prevent the internal hub part from sliding freely in and out.



One you get the socket for the lock nuts (available from any major auto parts store) remove lock nuts and lock washer ( and brake caliper ) and the rotor will come right off, bearings will fall out,



the next step remove the bolts holding the spindle on, with a little light tapping the spindle will come off, flip it over and look inside you'll see a roller bearing.



repack old bearings if there in good shape or pack new bearings and put things back together, and you should be ready to role.



Rick D