Alright, I've been getting a metallic grinding noise coming from the front end with the hubs locked in 2wd. I keep the hubs locked in the winter because one road will be dry and bare and the next will be covered in snow and ice. Switching from 2 to 4wd quickly is pretty essential. Anyway, the grinding noise only happens above about 45mph and it goes away if I switch to 4wd.

Also, I was checking ball joints, u-joints, etc. today and had the front end lifted up. With the hubs engaged, when I spin the driver side tire, the axle and driveshaft both spin. When I spin the passenger side tire, just the axle spins but not the driveshaft. Is that normal? Both hubs feel smooth and lock/unlock without effort.

Thoughts??

Ayuh,.... Have you checked the oil in the transfer case for metal,..??

 

I haven't checked yet but I plan to change the fluid soon so I'll keep an eye out. Thanks!

 

Have you done the things from your other post ?

yes, the passenger side hub is bad -- remove the cover and look at the carnage, it may just need cleaning and new grease
check the oil in the diff and the T-case -- and as @Bondo mentioned, look for sparkles in the oil

 

Have you done the things from your other post ?

yes, the passenger side hub is bad -- remove the cover and look at the carnage, it may just need cleaning and new grease
check the oil in the diff and the T-case -- and as @Bondo mentioned, look for sparkles in the oil

I lifted up the truck just to check for play in the wheels, axles, etc and everything seemed tight. Would the axle still spin if the hub was bad? It seems if it was a bad hub, it wouldn't engage the axle when locked in. I just found it odd that the drivers side wheel would spin the axle and front driveshaft but the passenger side only the axle. 4x4 engages and seems to be working fine.

 

Maybe I misunderstood -- thought you said only one side turned the axle ? EDIT: read that first post again, you did say both axles turned, but only one turned the driveshaft

The drive shaft has to turn when either axle turns , with a standard spider gear diff -- no way around that unless you have one of the detroit locker style diffs -- even then, something is not right -- I would want to pull the diff cover and look if there was damage inside

Proper side clearance on the ratcheting part is critical for the life of one of those lockers

Here is a link to testing a locker diff -- takes two people and both tires off the ground
LINK

also a vid showing the ratchet action
LINK

 

Maybe I misunderstood -- thought you said only one side turned the axle ? EDIT: read that first post again, you did say both axles turned, but only one turned the driveshaft

The drive shaft has to turn when either axle turns , with a standard spider gear diff -- no way around that unless you have one of the detroit locker style diffs -- even then, something is not right -- I would want to pull the diff cover and look if there was damage inside

Proper side clearance on the ratcheting part is critical for the life of one of those lockers

Here is a link to testing a locker diff -- takes two people and both tires off the ground
LINK

That's probably a good idea, I just picked this thing up a few weeks ago so I'd like to go thru it and change all the fluids anyway. The truck was religiously maintained with a ton of service records to show going back to 1996, and Ford did a full service and inspection on it before I bought it with nothing standing out. I'm kind of curious what would cause the noise to go away when 4wd is engaged. Seems like whatever is spinning down there causing the noise would still be spinning with 4wd so the noise should still be there. What do you think?