Front Driverside U wobble

[The_One]

I have an 89 Ranger and manual warn hubs, the hubs are good, and i JUST replaced the driverside U joint, STILL having a loud knocking noise, i've had a friend check and it's actually the ears of the U hitting the end of the bolt holding the bottom of the knuckle (hub?), u can see it just below the u (driverside). It's only when in 4wd and when i lock the hubs, not in 4wd with hubs locked still get noise. I pretty much do all my own work, i noticed a LOT of play in the shaft where it comes out of the spindle. It seems like there is too much play in the drive shaft even when i put the snap ring on (i'm talking up/down/left/right, not in/out), so much so that the u actually moves around a good 1/4", any suggestions on what is cheaper to replace, spindle/drive shaft/bearings??????
I checked the bearings and they all looked good, all were smooth and repacked with grease . . . . still a no go . . .

seriouslyfrustratedwrenchmonkey

 

[rangerguy1996]

did you check the bearing inside the spindle. if the shaft is moveing around in the spindle it could be that its a set of needle bearings tords the back of the spindle i think theres a seel two. make sure u get them b4 you try to replace it i had to order them.

 

[sloth69mustang]

sounds like it not all the way in the dif. unless the u joint you put in was too big and hits the knuckle. do the end caps of the u joint sit flush with the yoke of the axel?

 

[The_One]

The end caps are seated right and the c clips went in without much trouble and the axle slid back into the diff really easily, no wiggle there. I'm thinkin shaft bearing in the spindle maybe????

I'll check it out and post back.

 

[sloth69mustang]

yeah i agree with the spindle bearing. its the only thing left that the axel touches lol

 

[The_One]

Ok, so it's NOT the spindle bearing OR the spindle, went to the local yard and got a whole different spindle and new spindle bearings . . . .

could it be a bad axle??? Know where i can find a drivers side Dana/Spicer 28 axle???

 

[rangerguy1996]

Maybe the hub did it have this problem b4 u replaced the u joint

 

[4x4junkie]

Got pics of this issue? I can't imagine the tiny D28 shaft could move around enough to come into contact with the balljoint studs.

 

[The_One]

Yeah, i had the issue before i replaced the u, i thought THAT was the original problem, now i'm in $60 and still haven't resolved the issue. My next thought is maybe a bent axle, it wouldn't have to be warped very much to throw off the U. I think i'll just grind down the ball joint stud, should solve the problem for a while at least.

Oh, and it's only 1 ear on the stub shaft that's contacting the stud, bent shaft????

 

[4x4junkie]

Maybe... How about a pic?

 

[rangerguy1996]

Maybe the beam is bent