Wondertwin1

Come to you all begging for an answer.

Went 20 miles off road 2 weeks ago. Trails and any mud puddle I could find.

I get up this morning, it's absolutely perfect windows down off reading weather.

So I text a bunch of people, see who wants to go play, can't get anyone, aw hell, I'll go by myself. Just be careful.

It poured down rain last night. So I went to a spot I KNOW there's a crap load of mud at, got to the spot where it started getting iffy, and like usual. Hit my 4wd button at about 1-2 MPH, about 30-40 ft before I got to the spot to give my hubs a chance to engage. I get in the mud, ease into, lean out the window to watch my tire to make sure I won't get stuck. I start noticing that the tire doesn't seem to spin like it should, and put it in reverse, and my rear tires spin but my fronts don't. I hear a really loud click, some wheel of fortune peg and needle sounds, and disengage 4wd and go home.


If I play on the street. I can get 4wd about half the time. And sometimes I can get the peg and needle sound from my transfer case. What's going on here??

I'm not to familiar with transfer cases and hubs, and I can't recall anyone else having this problem.

EcoBco

It sounds like your hubs arent engaging all the way, i had the same hubs on my 94 explorer and they are a pain in the ***. I would try coming to a dead stop when engaging them because they are not shift on the fly hubs. Also you may have a vacumm issues causing the hubs to not suck all the way in, try removing the hubs and making sure nothing is broken on the inside and that they have some grease in them. Also check your wheelbearing torque spec because that can screw with the operation of your hubs.

Wondertwin1

I put it up on jack stands and played with it a while. I got all 4 wheels spinning.

I'll try what you said, but is that what caused the transfer case clicking noise??


Edit: on second thought, theoretically it could because there's barely any resistance.

EcoBco

Usually when u get a clicking noise fromthat type of 4x4 system it means the hubs arent engagin all the way. The noise would be something like putting cards in your bicycle rims and riding around.

Wondertwin1

Okay. I'll look into hubs.

mrslyfox

I had a similar problem with my 94...Ended up just putting on some Warn manual hubs. Prefer the manuals anyway, no guessing game..

matthew13sanderson

put in manual locking hubs. the automatics break all the time.

Wondertwin1

Yeah I wish they made tough auto's. A lot of my offroading is spotty. Hit a puddle, get on the road. What happens if you forget to disengage them??

matthew13sanderson

not totally sure...i only put mine on when i think i cant go through something. i turn em off right after because my exhaust flange rubs on the driveshaft and creates an awfull sound :P otherwise i would probablly keep em on and forget about em. i dont think its good to go on the highway with 4x4 but im not 100% on that.

ndnJedi

If you forget to disengage them everything will spin freely at whatever speed you are traveling, if all u-joints and bearings are properly greased it shouldn't be a problem. Unless of course you are going on a drive that will be longer than your full fuel tanks will last, then I'd think about disengaging them.

My 87 bronco i almost always had the manual hubs locked in the winter time, just checked the grease on everything once a week when locked all the time.