Hey WV Gang. I have a problem I cannot find and with this back, it makes it even harder. Is there anyone near me that can put a second set of eyes on my truck and tell me where they think this pop noise is coming from? I am in Hansford, Between Montgomery and Chelyan.

Just answer the string, then we will go from there.

 

My advice would be a Dynatrac freespin kit and weld the spiders. Some people call me crazy so i wouldnt advise you to listen to me.

 

That Idea has crossed my mind.

 

Which one?

Personally, I wouldn't call Cheeto crazy....he just takes things from a different perspective...huh Cheeto!

 

If it was 11 years ago I would swing by and give you a hand.

Maybe we could offer some long distance help.... what are you doing when the sound happens? Going over small bumps? Driving in a turn? Does it only happen at low speeds or high speeds? When you hit the brakes? Maybe something totally different?

Cheeto.... crazy?? Naaaah

 

The pop is strange. It happens either when in Auto or manual (hubs). I put it in 4WD, it will travel a few feet and then the most horrendous bang you ever heard comes from under the truck. It may do it several times, but the truck appears to be in 4WD. My first thought was the transfer case. But my understanding is that it is all gears and no chain. It has got to be that the hubs are not fully locking on the axle stubs. Removing the lockouts does not reveal any type of damage to the stubs or to the internals of the lockouts. The u-joints in the axles and the driveshaft appear to be free and not frozen.

Any ideas?

 

I cant see the aluminum transfer bein gear drive. I thought all the newer stuff (80-) were chain drive.

 

It may be and the chain is popping as it jumps the gears. Damn, I would hate to have to tear into that thing. The last time I worked on a TC was about 25 years ago. It was a simple New Process in a Dodge truck. I had it out, new chain and gears installed and back in the truck in about 3 hours.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure its chain driven.

Have you tried putting it in 4x4 and moving it while you're hubs are removed? I think you could try this in the driveway and not tear anything up. I probably wouldn't run it at speed that way though.

The t-case would still shift into 4x4 so that would either rule out or point to the hubs being the problem.

Do you ever hear this noise when you're not in 4x4?

 

Do you have the hubs that are auto and locking type? Hard to explain if you don't know what I'm talking about but at any rate...our fleet trucks have them (3 F250s and 4 F350s) and so far all but one have failed. Some multiple times and ford won't fix it so we just manually lock them when we get on the jobsite. They would pop and bang and push the front end in a turn but the 4wd wasn't engaged. They didn't actually, "break" but our mechanic said something about them slipping inside themselves. IDK how they work so that's about all the help I can be lol. Sorry

 

All it takes to keep the auto hubs on a Super Duty working properly is to service them regularly. I do mine about twice a year.

Guzzle's writeup is the gold standard on doing this....

Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Autolock Hub Lubrication Maintenance Web Page

If you do that and watch out for vacuum leaks then they are relatively reliable.

 

I wouldn't trust our mechanics at work to check my oil, much less actually try to fix something But, even though we are responsible for our own pickup, we aren't allowed to even rotate the tires. We have to pay someone if our mechanics "don't have time".

 

I still cannot fiure this out and I sure am going to hate taking it to the local stealership. They are now charging over $100 per hour which is a total screwjob when they only pay their mech around $18. Overhead they say. I say, BS.

 

Paul:

Did you check the suspension? I had a torsion bar bushing slip off up front and it would bang every now and then. Good luck.

 

Doug, I do not have torsion bars. It is something with the 4WD and I just cannot figure it out. The bang is when it comes out of 4WD under throttle, like it is not fully engaged.