86runner with 150k

I'm looking to fix my front end rattle. Disticntly present when i hit any sort of bump, and from both front tires.. upon inspection, both of the front axles seem loose where they enter the front wheels. I can grab these and shake them around a bit, and this seems to reproduce the rattle which I hear anytime i go over a bump.

I've read all I could find here on the site. The ball joints seem to be fine. There is some minimal, but noticable play in the drivers front tire which I discovered when checking the ball joints. This seems to be the bearing, so I'm replacing that for sure, probably both sides while I'm at it.

What's up with those axles? Could a bad bearing cause the axles to be loose like that?

[NOTE: FYI 4wd does not work for some reason. (acording to prior owner, who I love, since he GAVE me the truck last fall..), The shifter has always been in what appears to be L4, and I've been reluctant to move it, for fear of further damaging something else!]



Thanks.

Yep, sounds like the wheel bearings.

Sounds like the bushings inside the spindle are worn out, that'll let the axle move around and rattle. Either replace them or upgrade to the needle bearing kit.

Pull the 4WD shifter out, it may be stabbed into the shift rails improperly. It'll look like it is in 4L, but it won't move.

Yes. You're probably right. That shaft / hub system is still a mystery to me, since i've not taken one apart before. I'll fix the bearings and see what sorts of noises I have left over!

personally i dont think thats the noise your hearing. my axles are a little loose as well and if you shake em around you hear the noise. well anyway my problem happend to be the control arm bushings. but if i were you i check your sway bar and shock bushings first. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Bushings in the spindle. Now THAT sounds like what's going on. (besides the wheel bearing). I trust that I can find all the info here on the site to take care of that. I'll explore the shifter a bit too, and see what I can find.

I can't believe how much I've learned about this truck in such a short period of time, and all from this forum.

I will check the control arm bushings, and shock mounts too, before I tear everything apart. The truck needs some TLC at this point, so it could be any of these things, or all of them!

Just as a note, if you're going to dig into the bearings etc - you'll need a 54mm socket. This also corresponds to 2 1/8". May take some digging to find one locally, so just wanted to warn you. Sears has them but a little pricy since they're Craftsman. Search here for "54mm" and you'll see hints on other sources and explanations of what's involved. Good writeup here in Tech on 4x4Wire.