D28 Knocks and pops

[RangerNielsen]

So, I think i blew up my D28 diff. When i have it in 4 wheel drive, the differential will pop (best way to describe it) and not engage the front tires, with the hubs locked in, of course. I think I blew it (as silly as it sounds,) in my driveway. I have a rather steep incline right in front of my gate, and so I usually turn the truck off, 1st gear, 4lo, and p-brake (not very effective half the time), and i would frequently just keep it in low range and drive up my driveway with the hub s UNLOCKED. And one day, i did a pretty good burn out up the gravel incline, in low range, and unlocked front hubs, and stopped the truck where i park it and then all was well... Went to go to a little wheeling in my yard, and needed to use 4wd. got out, locked hubs, grabbed 4hi, and tried to climb said obstacle (fallen tree about 6" diameter) and i heard my diff popping and i guess knocking. rear tires were spinning and fronts were not. tried to go flex, 4lo, rear tires were spinning, fronts were not (the hubs were still locked in) so i said screw it, my brothers Hilux wins this part. Unlocked the hubs, back in 2wd, went to my mud pit. Let my brother drive the truck, and we blocked off one front tire, and locked hubs, and 4lo tried to climb it. again, rear tires spun and my differential making a gawd awful noise. and it was in fact the differential... What might I possibly have blown, or broke?

I also pulled 1994fordranger off a tree in my 94 when i first got it, (was going to be a parts truck, now is my dd) when i had my 235/75r15 on the front, since the 32s were on the 88, and i had 32s on the rear. so i had to use 4hi and locked the hubs and gave him a couple pulls, and i would sit there and spin for a few seconds trying to see if i could get traction. i got him over, played a little in 4wd and parked the truck. axle did fine with no issues until i went wheeling with my brother in the above story.

When I drive down a bumpy road, i can hear my axle knocking around and such. my 93 f250 diesel (d50 TTB) doesnt knock, the 88 ranger doesnt knock, and 1994fordranger's d35 doesnt knock. its only my 94's that does. why is my axle knocking?

I put the 32s on the front of the truck a day or two after i pulled 94fordranger off the tree. so they are on the front now.

Also, I have axle code 86 on the door jam, which would be 7.5" open, 3.73 gears. But the axle is a L/S. So either my rear axle has been swapped, or the chart is wrong (doubtful). It has been raining for the passed few days so i have not climbed under the truck to check the tag on the diff, if there is even one. i dont think i saw it the other day when i was under it.

Moral of this post: whats wrong with my front diff? Why does my d28 knock when I hit bumps?

 

[RangerNielsen]

Alright, so I blew out my wheel bearing bad. I'm having a buddy trailer the truck home since its stuck at a friends house. If the pictures load, one is the camber the truck has, varies on the amount, ad the other is the blown out bearing. Also, I'm losing brake pressure but if I pump it, they work. And these happened simultaneously so I think they go hand in hand? I don't see any brake fluid leaking and there is drips of something all over the rim of the tire. Not sure if its brake or grease.

 

[4x4junkie]

If the wheel (rotor) is loose, that can cause the brakes to do that, yes (the loose rotor is pushing the caliper piston back into the caliper, which it then has to come back out again before it can grip the rotor = pumping the pedal once or twice before you have brakes).

 

[RangerNielsen]

yepp. whole unit on either side of the axle moves. blew the bearings.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Well, this is the only picture thats uploading. notice the camber on the passenger tire. it worse now. got the truck towed home and it got worse just driving off the trailer.

 

[4x4junkie]

Be sure to use quality bearings when you fix it. Timken SET-37s should last almost forever in these frontends, but cheap china junk you'd be lucky to get 3K miles out of them.
As cheap as wheel bearings are, there's no reason at all to not get the good ones.

 

[RangerNielsen]

I think I'm going with Nationals. theyre about 4x the price of the other ones, but for my needs, thats fine.

 

[RangerNielsen]

heres some better pictures of the front passenger wheel bearings.

 

[4x4junkie]

I think I'm going with Nationals. theyre about 4x the price of the other ones, but for my needs, thats fine.

If they're made in USA, then you're probably good.
I'd expect to pay around $15-20 ea. for good bearings at a parts store (or $9-10 @ Rockauto.com). Beware of anything cheaper than that.

Good thing you caught that before the wheel actually came off (damaging your fender all up).

 

[RangerNielsen]

yeah, 21.99 ea at my hardware store. i dont have time to go thru rock auto at this point. It broke on my friends street, had to drive it about 1/2 mile though. wasnt too bad then. but now rollers and chunks of bearing fall out when i spin the rotor.

Also, how do i get the bearing out? I havent picked up a haynes yet so im not sure.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Auto part store. Not sure where hardware came from.

 

[4x4junkie]

You'll obviously need a proper socket for the bearing nuts (I have one like this)

Remove the brake caliper by tapping the two guide pins out, remove the axle C-clip & splined thrust spacer (edit: looks like you've already removed those), then undo the wheel bearing nuts, and everything should slide right off the spindle (provided the spindle isn't damaged and the bearing cones fused to it).

The Haynes book should have all the assembly information (there's a spec in there around 15-16 INCH lbs listed for the inner bearing nut torque, be sure you don't mistake that for foot-lbs or you'll fry the new bearings... seen this happen to a few guys in the past).

Only thing additional I would add to it is when retightening the outer locknut, I like to put about 225ft-lbs on it, as they sometimes can loosen up if using the book-spec of 150ft-lbs.

Good luck with it.

 

[RangerNielsen]

i had already had the caliper off. i didnt have a c clip anywhere on the axle, atleast that side. may have broken off some time. there was a bunch of grease so i didnt realise that my spindle was threaded. but then i did, and i didnt have a socket like that, so a rubber mallet and a flat head worked great, (replacing anyway). then got the washer out, and the inner was a little challenging, but it came out, then came the rotor, and 1 bearing. and my seal was against the back of the spindle by the ABS sensor. my rotor also had chips in it.

$350 later, i now have what i need to replace em. having problems getting it back on. i also got one of those sockets.
Is 225 ft lbs too much? but with the 32s i dont mind going heavy if i have to.

 

[4x4junkie]

Now, if 225ft-lbs was too much... I wouldn't be telling you to put that much on it, would I?

Only thing is to just make sure the ring & inner nut doesn't try to turn with it (the ring tab slipping out of the spindle groove) while you're tightening the outer nut down (not real common for this to happen, however it isn't unheard of).

 

[RangerNielsen]

Now, if 225ft-lbs was too much... I wouldn't be telling you to put that much on it, would I?

True. haha. and thanks. hopefully the skies will open and i can get to working on it...