Popping from hubs

[slayne]

Truck is a 93 ford ranger xlt auto trans electric shift 4x4. The driverside hub was destroyed by some bad wheel bearings. I replaced the inner and outer bearings on both sides as well as the rotors, pads, bearing seals, and replaced the hubs with the mile marker manual hubs and used the converion kit.

so the issue im having is when ever i engage the hubs to lock they start to pop and click like they are slipping. they do turn the front shafts. It does this in 2wd as well as 4wd and the sound is definitely from the hubs. so i dont think its the diff or t case. it seems to be a hub issue as its related to the hub and its locked position. its both hubs too and if i lock one and unlock the other only the locked one makes the noise. again they do turn the shafts on the side that is locked.

Any idea on the the poblem could be, im afraid to use the 4x4 casue the sound cant be good. would leaving the hubs unlocked and putting it in 4x4 be able to narrow it down? im going to try to jack up all 4 wheels and see if it does it with no load on the wheels.

 

[martin]

Do you have the thrust bearings and c-clips on the shafts? Sounds like the shafts are not staying engaged in the hub.

 

[slayne]

Yes I have the c clips and the splined spacer installed. Would the bearing that's behind the spindle that supports the axle shaft? Or would a seized u joint on the shaft cause a popping? Hopefully today I can jack all 4 up and see what it does and pull the hubs, I will report back if I find anything new.

 

[slayne]

Ok so I engaged 4x4 with the hubs unlocked and it's still popping, now I think it is the diff. I tried seeing what it would do in the yard and it seems to bind up really bad when turning left almost as if it was engaging and disengaging. I'm guessing there is a chipped tooth(teeth) or the diff is just done for.

How hard is it going to be to find another diff with the same ratio (3.73 I think)? I know they came with a few different ratios, is there anything special about it or is it pretty common. And what donor vehicles will work I know ranger, explorers, probably bronco 2 and the Mazda equivilent and did the front diff stay the same as long as it's off a hth truck right?

 

[martin]

It still sounds like it could be bad u/joints.

 

[slayne]

The u joints do look pretty rusty. Any way is there any way to to propperly diagnose if it's the u joints or the diff. I really don't want to replace the u joints just to find out the diff is still bad. And is there any way to replace the passenger shaft without pulling the diff to get the c clip loose or will I be ok with just replacing from the joint out.

 

[martin]

The outer joints are the ones that usually give the problems. If you pull the shafts a bad u/joint will be obvious. it is possible to change the inner joint with a press but it's a fiddly pain in the ass job.