HELP! 90 Ranger 4WD KNOCKING??

[enjoytheride]

New to me '90 4.0 liter Ranger, Manual, 162k.

The 4WD knocks/clunks/thumps on the passenger side. It functions but makes noise. The guy I bought it from said it's the passenger front wheel bearing. He had an estimate from the shop he took it to priced at $200. I bought the truck and have replaced the hubs with some Warn manual hubs. Noise still present.


Details:

No noise in 2WD

No noise if Axles are locked in 2WD.

Noise is only present when in motion; also gets worse/faster as speed increases.

While test driving I swerved left to right several times and the noise would go away for a bit, primarily when turning left.

When I changed the hubs I played around with the axle. When I rotated the axle it would clunk. However, there was what I would consider a decent amount of play both in and out and up and down. When I pushed the axle down and in and rotated it was smooth, no noise, no clunking.

I thought about returning the hubs but I noticed there was play in the female splined bearing??? inside the hub so I decided to replace them.

Questions:

Should there be play in the axle? if so how much?

What holds the axle in place?

Does this sound like a diff issue?

It's more of a knock/clunk than grinding so I don't think diff or T case are the culprit.

Wheel bearing doesn't sound right to me. I would think a wheel bearing issue would occur in 2WD. This noise occurs only when power is put to the front wheels. Then again I don't know shit about wheel bearings.

Let me know if you have any ideas or experience with this issue.

Thanks

 

[sloth69mustang]

1.there is play in the axle.
2. the axle is held in by the dif and the knuckle/hub assembly
3. i hate to say it but from the sounds of it.... yeah kind of. possible wheeling bearing but its hard to tell without hearing it.

if the 4x4 seems to work well when engaged. it could be a axle bearing on the dif housing going bad and clunking. i am not that good with dif stuff but that is my guess

 

[BlackBII]

Have you taken a good look at the......U-joints??

 

[PaleBlue90]

1.there is play in the axle.
2. the axle is held in by the dif and the knuckle/hub assembly
3. i hate to say it but from the sounds of it.... yeah kind of. possible wheeling bearing but its hard to tell without hearing it.

if the 4x4 seems to work well when engaged. it could be a axle bearing on the dif housing going bad and clunking. i am not that good with dif stuff but that is my guess

+1

Have you taken a good look at the......U-joints??

i agree, check your u-joints 1st

 

[Nhaz]

Sounds like a bad U joint. They get rather loud when they start to fall apart.

And they are not under alot of stress when locked and in 2wd. They may only thump when under truck sized load. instead of 2 shafts and a diff load.

 

[sloth69mustang]

agreed on the u joints too. when i replaced mine it was more of a vibration but they do make a lot of noise when they go bad. i just replaced my drive shaft u joints and they were super noisy.

and ty for the +1 rep point! lol