Having 4x4 trouble

[Cory74700]

Everytime I lock in my front hubs on my 88 pathfinder, wether 4H or 4L or neutral, I hear this weird humming noise tied to some strong vibrations from my front end it's only when the hubs are locked, I mean I do some serious offroad ing and can't tell when I'm crawling or jumping and whatnot but it's still there and especially noticeable when I go from one trail, jump on the asphalt for a couple hundred yards to the next trail that I notice it. Anyone have a clue what my issue may be?? I removed the Hun assembly all the way down to the cv shafts and nothing was out of the ordinary except the lack of any sort of grease so I lubed them up and reassembled and still have the same issue, any help is much appreciated and thanked for in advance

[5523Pathfinder]

How did the bearings look? Pitting? Scoring? Ay abnormal issues? New bearings may be in order. Possible diff bearing as well. Check/Change the front diff fluid and look for excessive material.

 

[Cory74700]

All bearings looked new, no excessive wheel play while driving, nor does it have anymore than 0.02 of play, upper, lower or side to side, but I did notice that my cv shaft boots were about due to be replaced along with all the other bushings on the front, I just replaced the lower ball joints and noticed that my wheels sit a little out as if you were to look at the front the camber is noticeably off so the tires are like this...\-/ but obviously not that excessive I believe negative camber, maybe I'm due for upper ball joints as well.. Thank you for such a quick response oh by the way I just changed my diff fluid front and rear along with the t-case and transmission with some fresh 75w-90 gear oil so I doubt that's the issue, ill wait for some more responses from others before I start throwing a bunch of money into random parts that Id be taking a guess as to whether its gonna fix it or not...

[5523Pathfinder]

Are the CV boots torn? The axles are also another possibility. I understand not wanting to throw money at it on a guess. It's just hard to diagnose the problem without actually seeing/hearing or feeling it. Maybe get all four tires off the ground and run 4wd at low speed and see if anything is noticeable.

[Cory74700]

Ok I'll try that in the upcoming week or so, if the weather cooperates, its raining like hell here in California, if all else fails, I'll upload some high-def pictures to photobucket or something and post links here of most all of my front end, but I do believe the CV boots are torn slightly, I may have to pull those one at a time and thoroughly check them out, their balance, straightness, etc... once again thanks for the snappy responses, and Merry Christmas to you

[5523Pathfinder]

Merry Christmas to you as well! Glad to try and help!

[projekz]

Check your front driveshaft and your front diff. I'm having similar issues. I replaced my front driveshaft u-joints and it still vibrates. I looked at so many things and couldn't figure it out. I took it to Nissan and they told me I need to replace my rear driveshaft u-joints. I haven't had a chance to do that yet. I'll update you if I feel difference. If it doesn't work, I'm leaning towards something in the front diff or transfer case.

[Cory74700]

ok ill take a look at that as well, thanks projekz, i mean it doesnt have to last long just long enough to get me through springtime when im doing my SAS then i wont have the issue again hopefully.

[Precise1]

I suspect the CV's as well. The fact that the noise only occurs when the hubs are locked makes me think it is an under load condition. Can you jack it up and see if it does it without load on the drive train?

 

Grass Valley, eh? I lived in Lincoln for a few years and was looking at houses in Auburn for a while. It's raining hard here at the coast, so I can only imagine what the foothills are like right now...

 

B

[Cory74700]

well as 5523Pathfinder said to do the same, ill give it a shot once the rain lets up here in a few days hopefully, i dont think it would make too much of an issue, but i think my torsion bars are a bit saggy too as my front end is substantially lower than the rear, maybe 2-3" lower, but its also my DD so i cant be stuck with one problem for more than a day or so, i mean the bushings and upper ball joints i can bust out in a day along with replacing the torsion bars, but that would then mean i need an allignment which i can roughly do in my driveway on another day, but other plans such as my carburetor issue i posted in another forum will take the majority of a weekend to fabricate the intake to accept a 2bbl carb. but it gives me some ideas, as i said, as soon as i can ill go out and take some pics of the undercarriage on the front end and post them. and yes Precise1, im in grass valley, its very peaceful up here and lots of places to go wheeling from rocky terrain, to the toughest of mud and sand pits i actually sunk the whole passenger side up to where that indent in the body is halfway up the door in quicksand a few weeks back that was also the day that my fully welded rear posy broke too. but upcoming ill jack her up and see if it does that when not under a load and then ill snap some high def pics for y'all and see if y'all can see something wrong that i don't other than my badly worn and cracked bushings.