Bad hub to knuckle seal and VIBRATION?!?

[jbentley37]

Hey Ya'll,

I've got another front end question to add to the many that are out there. I've searched the web and havent found anything usefull on my own, so I'm asking help from the best people I can think of. I am getting a vibration that travels up my steering column to the steering wheel, and it's driving me nuts!
I've got it narrowed down to 2nd gear around 1500 RPM and around 30-45MPH. Its not a jaw chattering vibration, but I don't want to let it get to the point that something catastrophic happens. Could a warped hub to knuckle seal or bad front axle u-joints cause this?

My truck: has new ball joints(napa premium), new hub/bearings(timken), new sway bar end links, rear drive shaft u-joints, re-greased drive shaft slip joint, new shocks, Cooper STT's rotated every 3k and recently road force balanced.

When I replaced my ball joints, I DID NOT replace the axle u-joints because i didn't think they needed them. That was a NEWBIE mistake. I now know that I should have done them anyways since I already had everything appart, and if thats new info for you, replace EVERYTHING if you're going to have to pull the front axles! If you don't, you'll end up like me kicking yourself in the A$$!

I did warp one of the hub to knuckle seals installing it on the stub shaft, but I dont see how this could cause vibration while driving in 2WD. Does the front driveline spin while driving in 2WD?
-JD

[jbentley37]

[jbentley37]

I think I've got it figured out for the most part. It appears that the front axle's still spin even when the auto hub is set to AUTO. I guess there's enough friction from the tire spinning on the hub to turn the axles once the truck gets up to speed. At that point the bent hub seal is out of balance, along with the bad u-joints and VOILA! My roaring noise+steering wheel vibration. I've got new parts on the way, which will hopefully fix my issue. I'll post the results after the repair if anyone else is having similar symptoms with their front end.