sechott

My 88 pickup failed inspection, the mechanic said my ball joints were loose and dangerous. I made the mistake of taking his word for it and I'm not sure if I had been scalped. After the repair the truck seems to have a lot of play in the front axle while 4WD is completely engaged and is very clunky between acceleration and deceleration. I do have reason to believe this shop has been dishonest about the ball joints. Also the mechanic there told me the ball joints were worn from the hubs being locked while normal driving and that I have probably damaged my transfer case even though it was not engaged. Not very confidence building. I normally drive with everything disengaged I lock the hubs on rainy days for certain intersection where I know my truck will spin out. My question is could the shop cause the clunky looseness I now have?

scope103

You have about 3 choices:
1) Do nothing, and keep grumbling.
2) Take it to another mechanic (one who you don't have reason to believe was dishonest) and have her check it out.
3) Read the FSM and run the front-end tests it specifies. You didn't say what the first mechanic did (it's on the work order), but if he replaced the ball joints the test for that involves little more than a jack and a crow-bar.

If you work through the tests and conclude that you have too much play in the transfer case (a possible cause of what you describe), then no, I don't think it's likely the mechanic was able to do that in the few days he had it.

toyota4x4907

Say what? Take it to a different mechanic. What would the balljoints have to do with the hubs being locked? ....
Clunky from the front end could be a number of things- ball joints, steering components, U-joint(s), CV joint(s), wear in the front diff-- gears, axle shafts, etc., wear (or incorrectly reassembled) in the locking hubs.....

Get a second opinion.

sechott

I don't remember the front drivetrain being loose. I guess I am more sensitive to the feel of the truck now that I had work done to it. Is the transfer case chain driven on this truck?

If I jack up one front wheel while 4wd is engaged I could turn the wheel and get an idea how much play there is between the front and rear axles right?

toyota4x4907

Transfer case is gear driven.

skypilot

iTrader: (1)

I agree, ball joints and locking hubs have nothing to do with one another. Maybe you got the bill for a "wall job". Look at the ball joints they should look "new" not dirty & grimey.

Transfer cases do not make clunking noises, bad U-Joints do.

Go around the chassis and wiggle stuff, use a crowbar and a jack (safely) , have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth to check tie rod ends. Twist drive shafts and see how far they twist, some is Ok, but quarter the way around is not and will make bad clunking noises.

habanero

Nice!

sechott

Thanks everyone, I figured the clunk out. A loose front axle bolt on the drivers side. I jacked up one front tire and turned the tire while 4wd was engaged. The bolt was backed off about 6 turns. I am glad I caught it before I wrecked also a big plus for no cost. Everything else seems good and tight no play between front and rear driveshaft.