Wheel bearings and locker clunk

[rylee144]

I have a constant grinding sound coming from the front tire area. I lifted the truck and could move the wheel back and forth a little. Is that the wheel bearing indicating its worn out? 

 

What brand is a good price/quality?

 

Secondly, I'm getting really tired of the front locker clunking in low speed sharp turns. Really embarrassing in parking lots. Anything I can do?

 

Thanks!

[MiNi Beast]

Disconnect axle other wise will need to install live axle hubs to replace unit bearings or air or cable selectable locker. One down side to lunchbox lockers with d30s. 

Tire movement 9 to 3 a little but a means to check steering. 12 to 6 movement for bearings or ball joints 🤔 look close for wear or if bearing is hoter then should be...

[rylee144]

6 minutes ago, MiNi Beast said:

Disconnect axle other wise will need to install live axle hubs to replace unit bearings or air or cable selectable locker. One down side to lunchbox lockers with d30s. 

Tire movement 9 to 3 a little but a means to check steering. 12 to 6 movement for bearings or ball joints 🤔 look close for wear or if bearing is hoter then should be...

If I disconnect the axle in loose 4wd right?

[MiNi Beast]

Well with the locker in you would still have use of 3 wheels. Look into the difference in lockers a bit. 

[rylee144]

It appears I have some rubbing at full lock. 

[ghetdjc320]

Throw in an ARB and never look back 

[rylee144]

I'm not positive it's the locker that's causing the clunk. I'm about to throw money at it its driving me nuts

[MiNi Beast]

1 hour ago, rylee144 said:

I'm not positive it's the locker that's causing the clunk. I'm about to throw money at it its driving me nuts

First thing first, pull the cover and rotate driveshaft and take a look. Or pay me money and ill look at it 🤪 

[rylee144]

Bit of a drive beast lol

[MiNi Beast]

I'm always up for road trips. 

[rylee144]

Got new ball joints, wheel bearings and a u joint in the axle shaft. The u joint was toast just rust left inside. The wheel bearing had alot of wobble in it. Lastly the top ball joint was so tight I couldnt get the rod to move even with a big hammer. I think that was my problem but it could have been all of it. Putting it back together today then a test drive. 🤞

[MiNi Beast]

Sweetness. 

[rylee144]

Ugh the clunk remains! Wheel bearing feels real good though so that's nice. Are putting the stock gears back in the dana 30 hard? Thinking about ditching this locker.

[MiNi Beast]

You can pull the axle shafts and pop the locker out and put the spider gears back in for sure, this will eliminate certain clunk but still may not be your issue perhaps. 

[rylee144]

I don't have the original gears. Axle came with the locker in it. Had time to do some reading. Some suggest the brake calipers could be the culprit. Not sure how that works tho. Most testing to come

[DesertRat1991]

10 hours ago, rylee144 said:

Ugh the clunk remains! Wheel bearing feels real good though so that's nice. Are putting the stock gears back in the dana 30 hard? Thinking about ditching this locker.

 

If road manners are a priority then a selectable locker would be your best bet.

 

That said, a Truetrac LSD will do 90% of the job for 50% of the cost and 5% of the hassle.  A front Truetrac delivers flawless road manners in 2WD daily driving situations. No noise, no steering issues.

[PIKE]

Have a Truetrac in the front of all three of my vehicles. Great traction, no maintenance and seamless on the road.

[Jesse J]

I am very excited to see how my 2 tru tracs behave on and offroad.

[PIKE]

Use gear oil that does not have any friction modifier for maximum traction wit your Truetracs.  This is what I use.

 

https://www.redlineoil.com/75w90-ns-gl-5-gear-oil

 

This is also a good GL-5 transmission oil. Non corrosive to synchro and slows them easier for shifting because it is not as slippery.

 

 

 

 

[rylee144]

Thx!

 

[rsmecham]

6 hours ago, rylee144 said:

 

 

Your locker is the problem. That clunk will always remain as long as you have two solid axleshafts, I just put a lunchbox in mine. Besides a little steering feedback I don't really mind mine

[rylee144]

6 hours ago, rsmecham said:

Your locker is the problem. That clunk will always remain as long as you have two solid axleshafts, I just put a lunchbox in mine. Besides a little steering feedback I don't really mind mine

What I currently have

[rsmecham]

14 hours ago, rylee144 said:

What I currently have

Looks like a spartan locker to me. I would keep it in there until you get the new one though. Seriously upgrades your offroad performance like you wouldn't believe.

[rylee144]

Swapped out my wheel bearings and ball joints. Still have a clunk when turning and a vibration starts at 35 MPH. Brought this up in another topic and Pete mentioned the front drive shaft. Crawled under the truck and checked it out. I'm no expert but the u-joints are toast, lots of play. I'm looking at buying the kit below to swap out the u-joints and the double cardon joint. I've watched a few videos online and I think it should do the trick. Advise and comments are encouraged before I buy. Thanks!

https://oliversdriveshaft.com/shop/yj-drive-shafts/jeep-front-drive-shaft-1310-cv-rebuild-kit-part-5-1310x-211544x-tj-xj/

[gogmorgo]

Good quality kit, although personally I would prefer greaseable ujoints. 
Something to watch for when rebuilding the double cardon, the centring yoke is a needle bearing, much like the ujoint caps, but the pin in the middle the bearings roll on is welded to the driveshaft, and if it’s worn in badly, your new centring yoke won’t last long before it gets the shakes. I don’t know if repair kits for it exist, if a driveshaft or machine shop could correct it, or if it just means you need to find a different driveshaft.