Hello All,

I'm a new member and new to trucks, I bought an old 91 F150, Lariat XLT work truck a couple of months ago; major vacuum and oil leaks, all taken care of now after replacing upper and lower intake manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets. I had other assorted trouble codes all fixed now. 4X4 Hi and Lo seemed to work, but today I got clunk on turns in 4X4 hi driving on dirt. The clunk goes away when the 4X4 is disengaged. I believe the truck was equipped with automatic hubs from factory. It now sports manual hubs which are in the locked position. What can the noise be? Can I keep the hubs locked and hit the 4X4 button for off road condtions and snow when needed? Are my hubs gone? and if so Which brand of manual hubs should I get?

All responses greatly appreciated.

dtek001

 

Sounds like it could be a cv shaft(idk if that's what ford calls them but...). You can keep the hubs locked forever if you want but it really affects handling on pavement, and gas milage, not to mention wear and tear. But if you want to keep the hubs locked instead of getting out to lock them everytime you get stuck it's ok. As for brand, I recommend Warn. Thats what the factory ones are on most trucks. Warn also sells a hub rebuild kit but it costs almost the same as new hubs. Now would be a good time to go through the front end.(wheel bearings, ball joints, etc.)

 

Thanks Atipsword, looks like I'm gonna be looking forward to some quality time with the truck; it is a bit cold and I don't have a garage so I was wishfully looking for an easy solution. I have not driven the truck very much I've had the hubs locked and trying out the 4x4 engagement using the pushbutton on the dash. I guess that is not a wise idea after all. I will be checking the hubs and CV axle ends both sides, maybe it is just a U joint. I also read about greasing the the slip joint on the front drive shaft. Nice truck by the way, mine still needs a lot of work, some mechanical and major cosmetical. (Not worthy of a picture.) For starters the grill was totally gone and the center headlight brackets were torn off in the same accident. Looks like somebody took out a deer! I am patching things up the best I can as I am on a strict budget. I've been able to get away with very economical fixes for now. I'll keep you all posted on the noise and what fixed it.
Thanx again.

 

No CV joints on the pre 97's, but I would suspect if this is a loud noticeable clunk that a U joint could be bad. There are 3 in the Dana 44 TTB itself, and two for the front driveshaft. Check em out.

Adrianspeeder

 

Thanks Adrianspeeder, I figured CV joint meant U Joint in this instance. You are right, it makes sense to check the ones on the front driveshaft and the traction beams too, I like u joints more than CV Joints considering the price and replacement degree of difficulty. I don't think I'll have any time to look at ol'red until Friday or Saturday, though. I'll keep you guys posted.
Thanks again

dtek001

 

Another thing I didn't remember this mornin' is to check the radious arm bushings at the frame to make sure they ain't dryrotted out.

Adrianspeeder

 

Sorry for the error, I wasn't real sure wheather they were called cv or U-joints. My bad

 

It's aight bud. Heres a CV joint.



Adrianspeeder

 

If it was hard packed dirt that wasn't allowing the tires to slip enough then it was just the drivetrain binding. The 4wd system in your truck cannot vary the speeds between the front and rear axles, so when you make turns in 4wd with enough traction, the drivetrain binds and makes "clunking" noises. Because of this, you should avoid using 4wd unless conditions are slippery enough to allow the front tires to slide a little so they will not turn faster than the rear tires and bind up. Merry Christmas. :santa:

 

Thank you Skinsfan6, I am not sure if the conditions were right for the 4 wheel drive; the ground was not muddy, a little snow but not much. As soon as I can get the truck into a garage I will see if there is anything loose but there is a high probability you're right. That would make it a driver malfunction! I am new to 4X4 driving trying to learn as I go. Trial and error can be expensive so the advice and observation are greatly appreciated.

dtek001