Beakness

I am new to this forum, and have recently purchased a 1986 SR5 pickup and was reading in the manual that it is best to drive in 4wd at least monthly in order to keep everything lubricated. As this truck has sat for a long time, everything is very dry, as evidenced by lots of resistance when I tried this. Is it possible to add lubrication without pulling everything apart, and what product is recommended?
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Cale Moody

You need a creeping oil to help with penetration with disassembly. Methinks WD-40 (or equivalent) will help get you going in the right direction enough to engage your hubs by hand.

Of course, that's assuming it's the hubs which you are referring as exhibiting lots of resistance when tried.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

That pretty much is talking about the transfer case just being shifted into 4 lo and 4 high and the front differential getting some exercise because with the hubs unlocked it really does not move.

Every thing else is pretty much lubricated.

Some people put way to much grease in the hubs that very well might be the cause of your hard locking hubs

89fourrunner

Your hubs are a seperate issue for lubrication (in relation to running the transfer case).

As stated above, dont grease them up with chassis grease, it is way too much and come winter you wint be able to turn them. If you do fecide to grease them grease them as if you cannot tell you put grease on them at all. That means so very little.

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

Seals get dry and hard over time. Running it helps prevent it.

"Spindle lubricator" search it. As spindle bushing gets dry and makes noise when in 4wd more noticeable when it gets cold.

Light grease only on hubs.

Beakness

To clarify "resistance", the hubs move freely in and out of the locked position, but when I drive it engaged in 4wd, it feels like I've got the parking brake on

toiyodah4WD

4WD lo is going to feel like driving a tank,keep that in mind. You should not use 4wd on hard dry pavement, if you are, try 4WD on dirt etc. Odds are your axles are shot, I say this not because of your symptoms but a 1986 truck that has sat along time probably has old old axles.

snyderiii

This quote has me curious with a recent "rumble" i'm getting from my passenger front wheel/hub. In the fall i replaced both cv axles in my 88 4runner (IFS), i also did the bearings at the same time, but i didn't do the races because there was no evidence of them creeping and i believe they were actually done just a year or so ago when i had the front end worked on by a mechanic. I also previously had put manual locking hubs on the vehicle. However, this morning on the way to work i heard what i can only explain as a rumble in the front hub. I just had the vehicle in 4wd a week ago (and left the hubs locked) and was wondering if this rumbling (which doesn't seem to affect driveability at all) was due to maybe i used the wrong kind of grease when i was reinstalling everything. The rumbling seemed to start when i hit a bump (nothing jarring, just a bump) and then it stopped later when i hit another bump. It returned and departed again later (bump again) and another time without hitting a bump of any kind. This rumble does seem to change with speed (i.e. it is something related to the rotation of the wheel). Also, this rumble is either there or not... it doesn't come on slowly or fade away. When it starts, it seems to start instantly and when it stops it also stops immediately.

I climbed under the truck (in the dark, dressed for work and in 29 degrees) and didn't see anything rubbing (like a fender flare anything like that). I didn't unlock the hub because i was late for work and my center caps have to be removed with a hex key. I tried to wiggle the pads and calipers (which were also replaced when i did the axles because they were sticking... this sound is NOT that sound). I figured i would unlock the hubs before i drove home this evening and see if the noise comes back. Anyway, this noise doesn't seem to be in my gas pedal or the floor boards anything that would indicated a transmission issue. It seems to be just the hub/wheel itself.

Of course, i will put the truck up tonight/tomorrow morning and remove the wheel, but i was on here looking for potential causes when i discovered this thread about "spindle" grease and i know i didn't use anything but wheel bearing grease when i did the work on the axles/bearings/calipers/etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice/thoughts.

toiyodah4WD

More than likely the brass bushing. Can happen when cold. Grease will help. Needle bearings were developed as replacement for this condition. Many think more trouble than worth (a bushing won't seize as a bearing will, etc.). There's info on easy way to grease bushing. I had this problem, greased over summer, and no problems this winter in CT. I only heard it when temps were in low 20s or less. Of course, when you get a chance, a new bushing would be best as it may be too worn on an '88 truck.

toiyodah4WD

Actually, I did hear noise once this winter as I recall, but temps were in teens, for 20 or so seconds....