Yoddaman

I was out wheelin with a buddy and trying to make it up a "staircase" when i heard a loud clunk. Nothing seemed to be wrong untill i went up the enbankment to the road. Now when im in 4wd it feels like my gearing is messed up. almost like it lifts and falls on the driver side front tire. Only in 4wd does it do this and only on the driver side. I recently did the cv axle on the passenger side and had no problems, could it be the t case? jacked it up and shook the tire and heard/felt nothing. Grabbed and shook the shock, CV axle, and everything else i could get my hands on and it all seems tight. Thanks in advance, im still pretty new.

thook

Do you have an automatic disconnecting diff or manual hubs?

Yoddaman

Auto disconnect for the moment.

MudHippy

What the hey, I'll take a stab at 'er.

Check all the mounting points for the front axle housing. If it feels like something is moving around you may have snapped a mounting bolt, or cracked a weld holding one of the mounts to the frame or crossmember.

I've had the mount located on the crossmember break off completely on mine. I didn't want that happening again, so I re-designed and welded on a new mount for it. Used some 3/16" plate to build it, it ain't goin' nowhere now.


Doesn't sound like busted gears to me. And I would know, I've been there done that, several times now.

Doesn't sound like the t-case either, but take a look at the mount on the crossmember for that too.

tried4x2signN

1st off, I'm jelious you've got a 5speed 4Runner...

2nd, what you're describing is a torquing. Assuming you have open diffs, there is no way you have something broke in the front axles. B/c all the power, or torque would just follow that route out.

Like unlocking one hub... 4wd no worky then...


So go back. What can flex, and where torque can flex it...


Off the top of my head... Check your upper and lower ball joints.

Then check all the CV bolts. Specially on the side you just worked on.

MudHippy

He said he jacked up and shook the tire and felt no looseness. So how could it possibly be a ball joint?

No offense, but I can hardly ever make any sense out of the things you come up with.

tried4x2signN

EDIT EDIT EDIT....


Hey no problem... And to answer your question... You could not tell if it was a ball joint if it wasn't jacked totally off the ground...

AND IT WASN'T JACKED UP BY THE CONTROL ARM...

And I don't know for a fact he jacked it completely off the ground, and not by the control arm...

B/c at the control arm it's still holding its weight bias of the 4Runner..

But we almost certainly know it's not in the front diff or shafts... B/c it wouldn't torque at all. Well, with open diffs anyway...


So what's the next logical troubleshoot? (not asking, just saying in process)

Yoddaman

Thanks guys, I ripped into it this morning and had it jacked up by the frame, took everything apart down to the cv axle and still couldnt see anything. i checked the mount and it is cracked but just a hairline and not quite all the way through yet. The ball joint are solid but my sway bar is broken off. not sure when that happened. I ran outta time so im going to continue on in the morning. I think i might remove the cv axle and put it back together to see if that fixes it... if so just wait for payday

Yoddaman

and no reason to be jealous, i just got lucky with it... paid 600 bucks for it too, now thats somethin to be jealous about

tried4x2signN

lol, salt? Meet wound...

Yoddaman

It only stings for a second... and its only because its from new hamshire and is rusted from bumper to bumper. but im workin that issue some other time

thook

Did you get a look at the ADD actuator inside the housing?