I noticed a while back that with the hubs locked, and the t-case in 2wd that going around sharp turns the front wheels will bounce side to side. Unlocked the hubs and its gone. With 4 wd engaged it acts normal. Figured a hub was bad or something in the diff was a problem. put it off, maybe it will self correct as this truck has Gremlins that come and go.

Today I was cruising down the road and all of a sudden she pulled real hard to the right. I kept steering and it still was pulling to right, finally it gave up and it made me oversteer to L. Then it was ok for a couple, then it would do it again. Did it all the way home and pretty scary to control. I figured it was a brake hanging up, so I jacked it up to see. It's not the brakes as the wheels are free to turn.

I started it up and checked steering, no issues noticed. With both wheels off the ground, I locked the Driver's hub, still in 2wd and couldn't rotate that wheel by hand, driveshaft didn't turn. Went to pass side and locked that hub, it spun freely and turned the d-shaft.Back to the drivers and it will barely turn itself and the shaft by hand. Noticed oil leak (slight) from D/S hub. With no hubs locked, the pass side turns effortlessly, Drivers has some drag.

(Sorry for the lengthy explanation, but I like to give all details ahead for a proper diagnosis.)

Anyway, what could it be? Before I throw a set of hubs at it (they have 165,000 on them), I d like to be sure. It seems it could be something in the Diff? Never encountered this before. Thanks in advance.

 

I would suspect something in the differential based on what you said...that or a wheel bearing...But does the hub turn freely with the locking hub in the 'free' position?

 

Yeah, wheel rotates by hand with a slight drag in "free". When locked, it barely rotates, very difficult by hand and the driveshaft turns slowly with the wheel(same speed as input by hand). The selector **** to engage the hub turns with no unusual tension.

 

Might be a U-joint binding in the knuckle portion of the axle.

 

I had a similar experience. Pull the hubs down and clean and lube according to the books recommendations. More grease isn't better in this case. Then check it alll again. When I went into mine I found a snap ring had dislodged and jammed up the plastic bearing strip in the hub. I tried to get new parts but Warn isn't interested in selling parts for these old hubs, just new ones. I wound up machining the hub to accept an oilite bearing that I made and so far no worries. Couldn't see spending $200 for a $2 fix.

 

mine did that it was the bearings