Messed up front differential....Dana 35

[thorskyhigh]

I have been led to believe that I might have front diff damage from driving in 4x4 on a paved road with little or no fluid in the diff. I get a loud "clunk" and jolt intermittently in 4x4 and i believe ive narrowed it down to hubs or the diff. Can the hubs being messed up produce a big clunk but stay engaged otherwise? How do I check for differential damage?

 

[RangerSVT]

Is be willing to bet its the hubs...

SVT

 

[brinker88]

Only one way to tell. remove the hubs from the vehicle bolt the wheels back on and drive it slowly up and down the road. If the noise is still present, you've got a diff problem.

OR put it in 4x4 with your hubs UNLOCKED and see if there's noise present. If the hubs are unlocked, the axle shafts arent turning but the diff is. That should point out the culprit.

 

[kryptonitecb]

Removing hubs and driving slowly would be a better way to determine if it was the hubs. Still I'd try to unlock them first and not drive around in 4x4 on the road. There is no reason to do so and you lower you mpg by having the truck move all those extra parts.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[thorskyhigh]

So I took off the hubs and drove around with the 4x4 engaged and the noise was not made, however without the hubs locking on the spindle there is no torque on the diff so i dont see how i could expect it to make the sound... with the hubs on and engaged i can drive like everything is fine but if i turn sharp the wheels start to bite,(like normal in 4x4 on pavement)but then something is binding hard, there is a loud clank and jolt and it happens again and again until i straighten out. i dont drive around on the road in 4x4 all the time. i hardly use the 4x4 but when i do its in Hawaii and can be brutal...the paved road i think messed it up goes into a valley and everybody uses 4x4 up and down the valley wall even though its paved. It could be the hubs but they dont appear messed up in any way, something is giving though and the hubs are stock automatic locking hubs...how else can i figure out what this is?

 

[kryptonitecb]

Do you have some sort of locker in the front?

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[brinker88]

With that explanation, it sounds almost as though you have a bad u-joint in your axle shafts

 

[Bennybooster]

When my hubs kerploded it sounded kinda like that...

 

[thorskyhigh]

No locker. I pulled the axleshafts, did the u joints even though they were not bad, did the spindle bearing, pulled and checked the front driveshaft single and double u joints, slip joint, radius arm bushing, all good. Could my hubs be bad but show no sign of whatever is making this BIG clunking jolt? ie worn teeth, lose bearing, stripped anything.... because they really do appear to be fine from what i can tell. Also, has anyone tore up their differential?

 

[4x4junkie]

Have you checked the fluid in it since (I assume) you put fluid in it?? If there's metal shavings in it, then good chance whatever is happening is within the diff itself.

 

[brinker88]

Junkie's right. Get a suction gun. Remove and inspect the fluid for debris

 

[Hahnsb2]

WTF are you driving around on pavement in 4x4? I'm sure the hubs are toasted (assuming they're the auto hubs).

 

[kryptonitecb]

I have to agree with hahnsb2, when I play in 4x4 on pavement the truck acts weird. Difference is mine has a locker of some sort which is why I asked. Maybe driving around a dirt field would make a difference. Other than that I'm lost, best guess is your hubs are bad if it does fine when disengaged or hubs removed.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[thorskyhigh]

I got manual locking hubs coming in two days...no shavings in the diff, ill post up when the hubs get here....Thanx for the replies

 

[RangerSVT]

I got manual locking hubs coming in two days...no shavings in the diff, ill post up when the hubs get here....Thanx for the replies

Did you get the manual hub conversion kit as well? The manual hubs won't work with the auto nuts...

SVT