Front end grinding noise on right side

[gotblazers]

Hey guys so im getting grinding on my dana 44 under certain conditions on the passenger side. ill start off by telling you what im running

76 k5 blazer
4'' suspension lift
stock dana 44 front
171k miles
used to be a support truck for a score racing team so its safe to say its been run hard

tell me if anymore info is required or if your just curious about it


It use to only happen when i turned onto this tiled concrete (small ruts all over it similiar to bathroom tiles) and even here it was rare. I figured it was my hubs so i replaced them with warn locking hubs (very sexy) which work great now and stopped the grinding on the road but i just went off road and im getting the grinding coming out of the right tire off and on still. The problem will stop if i slow down or if i turn left or right a little or a combination of the 2.

The problem will occur under these conditions
.If my front right wheel has to flex up or down too much at these speeds ONLY
.speeds of 15-45mph

The problem never occurs under these conditions
.slow speeds 1-5mph even if i have the axle flexing hard
.high speeds 50mph and up (freeways)

 

[rgorsuch87]

What size tires are you running? Have you checked the wheel bearing, and ball joints? Also make sure everything is tight; caliper, rotor, ect.

 

[gotblazers]

What size tires are you running? Have you checked the wheel bearing, and ball joints? Also make sure everything is tight; caliper, rotor, ect.

33.5x12.5, The wheel bearing was loose when i pulled the hub on the right so i got it torqued which did show noticeable improvement after i put the hubs back on. I havent checked the ball joints yet but i suspect it may be those.

On the other hand,Im moving into more and more extreme 4 wheeling, How much longer do you think this dana 44 will even fit my needs based on your experience? Anyone ever broke one and under what conditions?

 

[rgorsuch87]

You'll find lots of different answers on that. I personally say ditch the 44 and get a 60. I just broke the 44 in my burb and like an idiot I put another 44 back in I haven't broke it yet, but I feel it coming. I was stuck down in a ditch and gave it some gas to try and get out and the wheel hoped once and bang! Snapped the axle shaft. I'm also running 35x12.50s. Some say that if you build the axle right you shouldn't have problems, but I say "go big or get towed home".

 

[gotblazers]

You'll find lots of different answers on that. I personally say ditch the 44 and get a 60. I just broke the 44 in my burb and like an idiot I put another 44 back in I haven't broke it yet, but I feel it coming. I was stuck down in a ditch and gave it some gas to try and get out and the wheel hoped once and bang! Snapped the axle shaft. I'm also running 35x12.50s. Some say that if you build the axle right you shouldn't have problems, but I say "go big or get towed home".

lol alright ill take that into consideration, thanks man

 

[1BEATK5]

the axleshaft bearing inside the spindle may be worn or missing. i have seen that a couple times. one on my truck. rf too. i'd hit a bump, turn, or accelerate just right and this wierd grinding noise would happen for a couple seconds. it went away immediately if you tapped the brakes.
you can check it. just stick a srcredriver under the axleshaft u-joint and pry up. there should be a little play but it shouldnt be floppin around in there.

 

[gotblazers]

the axleshaft bearing inside the spindle may be worn or missing. i have seen that a couple times. one on my truck. rf too. i'd hit a bump, turn, or accelerate just right and this wierd grinding noise would happen for a couple seconds. it went away immediately if you tapped the brakes.
you can check it. just stick a srcredriver under the axleshaft u-joint and pry up. there should be a little play but it shouldnt be floppin around in there.

will definitley check that tomorrow morning and post my results. Thanks man

 

[MetalMelter]

the axleshaft bearing inside the spindle may be worn or missing. i have seen that a couple times. one on my truck. rf too. i'd hit a bump, turn, or accelerate just right and this wierd grinding noise would happen for a couple seconds. it went away immediately if you tapped the brakes.
you can check it. just stick a srcredriver under the axleshaft u-joint and pry up. there should be a little play but it shouldnt be floppin around in there.

2x on that, i looked for that noise for weeks and it was driving me nuts.
Finally found an exploded view and realized there was a small needle
bearing in the spindle.
Mine had the race and no needles.
Problem solved.
Now if i could figure out all the other noises........

 

[gotblazers]

2x on that, i looked for that noise for weeks and it was driving me nuts.
Finally found an exploded view and realized there was a small needle
bearing in the spindle.
Mine had the race and no needles.
Problem solved.
Now if i could figure out all the other noises........

I still need to take mine apart. It never happends on road since i changed out my hubs and tightened my wheel bearings so im just going to check it out some time before i go to blazerfest. I hate deconstructing my DD though

 

[andyblack]

Mine was making a weird sound and it was because the outer hub nut had come loose. I think the sound would stop when I hit the brakes but I can't remember. I tightened it up when I swithced from auto hubs to manuals and the sound stopped. Sometimes those nuts won't stay tight anymore and you have to get new ones. Someone had a post on here last year (I think) about an improved version of those nuts that some company was selling that were supposed to be a lot better design and wouldn't come loose like the stock ones. I can't remember who posted it or who made them. Maybe you could do a search and see what turns up. Also I remember that the driver's side seems more likely to have the hub nuts come loose because of the way the wheels turn when you're going forward (counterclockwise).

 

[colbystephens]

I still need to take mine apart. It never happends on road since i changed out my hubs and tightened my wheel bearings so im just going to check it out some time before i go to blazerfest. I hate deconstructing my DD though

when you say you re-torqued the wheel bearing, did you torque the inner axle nut down to 50 lb-ft and then back it off a 1/4 turn? did you properly install the washer with all the little holes in it so that a hole popped over the nipple on the inner nut? Did you torque that outer axle nut to about 150 lb-ft?

torquing that inner nut to 50 lb-ft and leaving it there will kill a bearing in no time.

 

[gotblazers]

when you say you re-torqued the wheel bearing, did you torque the inner axle nut down to 50 lb-ft and then back it off a 1/4 turn? did you properly install the washer with all the little holes in it so that a hole popped over the nipple on the inner nut? Did you torque that outer axle nut to about 150 lb-ft?

torquing that inner nut to 50 lb-ft and leaving it there will kill a bearing in no time.

i only went as far as to the outer wheel bearing retaining nut as was required to swap out my hubs. Cost 10 bucks for the stupid socket ill probably never use again . I torqued it up to about 12ft lbs then spun the wheel a few times to seat it then i torqued it up to 20 and spun it a few times to seat and backed it off a 1/4 turn. I didnt replace anything but the hubs so i didnt see any need to torque past 20 to get them to seat properly. i dont recall any washers although im sure there was but it was over a month ago so i just dont remember likely. I dont think i touched the axle nuts for just swapping manual hubs as thats all i did. Its a 171k mile vehicle which was used as a score racing support truck for part of its life it seems likely that the bearing is just worn but the question is which one . Hope i was able to explain myself somewhat intelligently im still new to the game at 18 i havent been seriously into trucks for more than a year or so (as long as ive had mine , It's an addiction).

 

[colbystephens]

OK. So that wasn't the correct process for dealing with that axle nut. I'm uploading some pics that I took today of my hub all apart. Hold a moment, and I'll post up with a better explanation.

 

[colbystephens]

OK, so there are 2 axle nuts separated by a washer. In the picture below you see that I am holding the outer axle nut. I'm calling it an axle nut, but it's probably a hub nut or some other name. Anyway, here it is.

You can see inside the hub that there is a ring with many little holes in it. That's a washer sort of thing that has a tab that slides into the spindle surface, and one of those lucky holes will fit over the nub on the interior axle nut.

Once you remove the 2 nuts and the washer, the cone bearing thingy can come out. I usually remove it by pulling the rotor outwards a ways (of course, you have to remove the caliper to do this.) Here's a pic, I'm holding the bearing dealio in a paper towel.

The purpose of the inner nut is to set the bearing in place and hold it there. The washer acts as a safety, not allowing the nut to move in or out once it's set, and the outter nut holds that washer in place as a lock nut.

To go through the process that you did for the outer nut doesn't really do anything, and the torque you set it to is incorrect.

The proper procedure for wheel bearing adjustment is as follows....

A) Torque inner adjusting nut to 50 ft/lbs while rotating the hub/rotor assembly

B) Back off adjusting nut until it is loose

C) While rotating the hub/rotor assembly tighten the adjusting nut to 35 ft/lbs (for automatic locking hubs) or 50 ft/lbs (for manual locking hubs)

D) Back off adjusting nut 1/4 to 3/8 turn (for automatic locking hubs) or 1/6 to 1/4 turn (for manual locking hubs)

E) Now install locking ring (making sure the pin in the adjusting nut enters one of the holes in the locking ring)

F) Install the outer lock nut and torque to a minimum of 160 ft/lbs

This is straight from a Chiltons repair manual.

It's pretty important that you get back in there and torque that sucker down to the right amount.

Also, you'll end up using that socket more than once! It's a good thing to keep with you on the trail, because if you break an axle shaft you'll need it! Also, if you keep that 1/2 ton front end, you'll likely change ball joints in the future... so you'll need it!

 

[gotblazers]

OK, so there are 2 axle nuts separated by a washer. In the picture below you see that I am holding the outer axle nut. I'm calling it an axle nut, but it's probably a hub nut or some other name. Anyway, here it is.

You can see inside the hub that there is a ring with many little holes in it. That's a washer sort of thing that has a tab that slides into the spindle surface, and one of those lucky holes will fit over the nub on the interior axle nut.

Once you remove the 2 nuts and the washer, the cone bearing thingy can come out. I usually remove it by pulling the rotor outwards a ways (of course, you have to remove the caliper to do this.) Here's a pic, I'm holding the bearing dealio in a paper towel.

The purpose of the inner nut is to set the bearing in place and hold it there. The washer acts as a safety, not allowing the nut to move in or out once it's set, and the outter nut holds that washer in place as a lock nut.

To go through the process that you did for the outer nut doesn't really do anything, and the torque you set it to is incorrect.



It's pretty important that you get back in there and torque that sucker down to the right amount.

Also, you'll end up using that socket more than once! It's a good thing to keep with you on the trail, because if you break an axle shaft you'll need it! Also, if you keep that 1/2 ton front end, you'll likely change ball joints in the future... so you'll need it!

thanks a ton, I hope you didnt take that all apart just for me. I was a lil confused about what you were talking about before but After seeing this i realized i did everything right except i didnt use a torque wrench for the 160ft lb+ job, but im taking it back apart to check the axle shaft bearings before blazer fest in less than a month so ill properly torque it when i go back in. Its at least at 100ft lbs of torque right now do you think it will be a problem to leave it like that for a few weeks? Again thank you a ton for pulling this all up for me its because of members like you im more than happy to pay the membership fee's of this site rather than just go google it.

 

[colbystephens]

no problem. i took those photos today because i was thinking of doing a ball-joint replacement how-to thread since all the past ones no longer have working photographs. So, it was no big deal.

I'd really recommend you fix that torque on that nut. Shouldn't take you more than an hour to do it. You might be fine to leave it, but if you can find an extra hour - just git er done.

Are you sure you did everything right? You need to take that inner nut up to 50 lbs before backing it off. Taking it up only to 20 lbs and backing it off will not be correct. At all. Period. If you don't set it up right, you're asking for hub failure.

 

[gotblazers]

no problem. i took those photos today because i was thinking of doing a ball-joint replacement how-to thread since all the past ones no longer have working photographs. So, it was no big deal.

I'd really recommend you fix that torque on that nut. Shouldn't take you more than an hour to do it. You might be fine to leave it, but if you can find an extra hour - just git er done.

Are you sure you did everything right? You need to take that inner nut up to 50 lbs before backing it off. Taking it up only to 20 lbs and backing it off will not be correct. At all. Period. If you don't set it up right, you're asking for hub failure.

oh,well guess im just a lucky SOB . Im positive i got the inner nut up to 50 lbs i was just confused what you were talking about before . I'll try and find sometime but im a bit of a procastinator lol. I oughta make a build thread for my 76 and 73 blazers so im not posting new topics every day.

 

[colbystephens]

Cool.

 

[andyblack]

Colby, I'm glad you took the time to show how to properly install the bearings and hubnuts. I don't know how many people on this forum have tried to argue with me when I tell them that the outer nut has to be torqued to over 150 lbs. Maybe now they'll believe me.

 

[colbystephens]

I've seen it more than once that those outer nuts are only finger tight if they're not torqued properly. That definitely defeats the purpose of a lock nut!