Dana 28 Making noises in 4x4...

[88fordRanger]

Yes, I searched, and could not find this anywhere... Whenever I have it in 4x4 (low if it matters... Haven't tried it in regular 4x4) My left front hub has a harsh squeak once every rotation. When I hear it, it slowly starts to get louder, so I push in the clutch and it goes away. Then I take off again and it either starts right back up or sometimes takes a while to start squeaking again...

One of the times I stopped and slowly took off again and heard a big CLUNK like my front drive shaft broke off or something, so I jumped out and checked it and everything (on the outside) was fine... Then it just went back to the same old squeaking... Just noticed this started about a week ago.

Please help...
Thanks in advance...

 

[dangerranger83]

Could be a u-joint, i would check that.

 

[88fordRanger]

Could be a u-joint, i would check that.

I checked the u-joints about 6 months ago, that side felt almost brand new, so I left it. Replaced the right side though, because it had a small amount of play.

I haven't really got on it at all in 4wd like ever, I usually just use it to crawl through real fine sugar sand and shallow mud.

It could be the u-joint, but i kinda doubt it. And if it is, I have a new one already so it's all good...

Any other things? My hubs are kinda worn out, could it be them being the problem? I have that "snap crackle and pop" syndrome when they engage and disengage...

 

[88fordRanger]

Yea, Just confirming it's NOT the u-joints, I just checked all of them. Every u-joint from the t-case forward has no play at all.

Now the rear drive shaft is a different story, but I won't get into that.

So... It's not the u-joints, what could it be??

Oh, And there are no signs of the axle shafts hitting the inside of the housing or anything, because that's another thing i thought of.

 

[4x4junkie]

"No play" doesn't necessarily mean the u-joint isn't bad... It could be frozen up with rust internally (you'd have to pull the shaft out to check for this).

Another possibility is the axle needle bearing in the rear of the spindle has gone south.

To get to the needle bearing you have to pull the shaft out anyway, so I would say it's probably time to get your hands dirty on it.

Though if you have automatic locking hubs, they're known to cause a lot of issues too, however I'm not sure that squeaking is one of them.