ToyoKev86

I recently noticed that my front diff is rotating a little bit with the manual hubs unlocked; I'd go for a drive, and then after parking I see that my CV axles and front driveshaft have moved a tiny bit. To make sure my hubs are indeed unlocked, I turned the CV's and then the driveshaft by hand (with all four wheels on the ground) with little resistance. I imagine there'd be much more resistance if the hubs were partially locked. However, when turning the driveshaft, I noticed that the driver's side CV occasionally turned a little slower than the one on the passenger's side, but I think this might be due to the fact that the driver's side axle shaft is longer and therefore has a bit more rotational resistance.

Earlier today, to get a better visualization of how much the CV's are rotating, I marked them with a red Sharpie before driving. After driving about seven miles, I saw that the CV's and front driveshaft had all rotated about an inch from their starting points, with the CV's having turned in opposite directions. However, after driving an additional five miles, there was no rotation in the front diff at all as the CV's and driveshaft were all virtually in the exact same position as they were at the last stop.

I should note that my front diff's oil had been drained last week to prepare for a diff swap, but the swap was postponed so I'd been driving my truck (in 2WD) without any oil in the front diff, which is fine as long as the hubs remain unlocked. I should also add that the front diff is not rotating at a constant speed like it would with the hubs locked, because after each drive the housing is cold.

I'm leaning towards the possibility that it's the vibration of my truck and the movement of the suspension that's causing the front diff to turn a tad.

I assume the slight rotation is normal and I just hadn't noticed it before as I recently got into the habit of carefully inspecting my drivetrain and suspension components before each drive. Is this indeed normal or do I have some sort of minor issue? May the front diff's lack of oil have something to do with it?

Thanks!

WolfMann

If your having trouble switching from free to lock or vise versa on the hub cover I would recommend removing it. Two wheel drive and in free position. There's a clutch pawl assembly linked with springs that should come with it. If it sticks it's likely it wasn't rebuilt in the right position. Easy to put back together, but that can cause sticking. Ive read not to use too much grease.
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