4WD Not Working - Thinking hubs but need ideas

[Rooks]

Need a little brainstorming session here guys.

Just got my 1999 XLT back on the road after sitting for 4 years in a field. Surprisingly everything still works pretty good (after re-doing the brakes, putting in a new battery, and just general cleaning and maintenance).

Anywho, just found out my 4wd isn't working. So here's what I know.

1) First, the t-case does engage when I flip the switch. I see the dashboard light go on, I hear the motor on the t-case click, and when you move forward the front driveshaft spins. So power is getting to the front differential.

2) I just installed new Rugged Ridge Manual Hubs. I had a set of AVM's on there back in the day, but sold them. Now, one thing to note, is that I left the hubs open for 3 years (as I wasn't ever planning on using this truck again, at least not with the current drive train). I should also note that the first time I installed the hubs I forgot to lock them before installing them. So I took them off, made sure the locks still worked, re-installed them while locked, and I'm still not seeing anything.

Is it possible something is messed with the wheel bearing itself since it was open for so long?

Anyone have any other ideas on what I can check? I mean I'm pretty sure the hubs are installed right, but I'm going to take them off again to make sure. I figure if it was something with the differential, I'd hear grinding or something, but it cruises down the road just fine.

 

[Explorin94]

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/search.php

 

[Rooks]

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/search.php

Thank you for the helpful post! By golly, I hadn't thought of that.

Problem is I don't know what to search. I see a lot of tips in the Tech Troubleshooting about if the T-Case doesn't engage, but mine is engaging. I did a search for "4wd doesn't work" (which was even suggested in a separate thread) but it kept coming back and saying "no results found." So I did actually try to search, but was coming empty.

However, I did read through some other posts about 4x4 after typing up my response and found the following which pretty much goes along with what I said, but could be useful for others.

It may be that only one of your front hubs is locking, i.e one is not, allowing the open differential to spin the unlocked axle shaft.

D28 front hubs are not the strongewst in the world.

They are easily checked by jacking up the front end, locking the hub, then spinning the tire while watching the axle shaft itself.

Robert

I'm going to try putting it up on stands here in the next couple days and see if that helps. I'm more just curious if something can go wrong between the other then hubs, but yet not hear any sort of clunking or bad noises. Appreciate any help.

 

[Rooks]

Well, it's for sure the hubs. Everything spins out to the hubs.

It's almost like the spring that holds the outer gear in place when you go into locked either isn't strong enough to hold it in place, or the gears aren't syncing right (doubt it's the syncing part since if you push the hub half way on, and spin the wheel, you see the CV spin. But if you push it farther then half way, you can just feel the spring give out and the outer splines get push back into the hub like it was in Free mode.

Going to contact the ebay seller I bought them from and see what they are willing to do.