Well, I pulled off the wheel bearing hub assembly today. That wheel bearing hub bolt was a lot of fun taking off. Took a 72" galvanized pipe, breaker bar and socket, but I got it off. The assemble seemed to be fine. It seemed solid, no rattling. When I spun it, it spun freely, smoothly and as if it was spinning in sludge. There were no broken or worn teeth, nothing seemed out of whack with it. I was really hoping that was it. I am going to check the cv joint next, but what am I looking for? What else should I be looking at?

 

You're not going to be able to spin it very fast by hand, so that isn't an effective test if it isn't completely dry. With that said, A new hub does not spin freely on its own. It will stop spinning as soon as you stop turning.

 

Just spin the bearing and listen closely for any noises, it should also spin very smoothly. If it's near silent and everything feels tight still then it should be fine. Like samnben said, it should stop spinning almost instantly after you stop turning it, if it keeps going maybe another full turn then it's lacking/leaking grease inside.

Since you got everything taken apart that far on your D, just go ahead and rip it down somemore untill you find the cause of the problem. While you're down and under there, check all the bolts you see and make sure everything is tight. It would be kind of funny if it turned out to be the bolts on your skid plate were loose.

 

The bearing spins smoothly when I am turning it, but stops almost immediately, all tight, so I am doubting thats it. Its not the skid plate, I checked almost every bolt I could find, also it gets horribly worse when I switch it into 4wd. I think I may try replacing the axle assembly.

 

Sounds good, just keep tearing out the drivetrain parts untill you find something loose.

 

its probley the front driveshaft as i said before... i know a couple people that this part has gone bad on them.. and everytime it sounds different...... the area in the shaft where it always breaks is at the end where it connects to the transfer case there is a sealed collar thing there with bearings in it its about the size of a big onion.. just befor the transfer case in the front... the bearings on there are probley shot or grinding or somthing... you can jack up the front and spin the tires and should be able to tell you if thats the problem or not

 

Anyone know of a good place to get a new axle assembly? I was thinking jcwhitney. Also, I am assuming the driveshaft bolts where it connects to the transfer case are hidden under the boot? Obviously, I take the wheel hub assembly bolt thing in the center of the tire off, but I don;t see any bolts on the other end of the axle assembly. Are they hidden under the boot?

 

Start calling salvage yards, but call around. I just bought one a few months ago, ran me $190 delivered to the mechanic. Other yards were wanting all the way up to $500. One place even quoted me $350 and I would have had to pull it.

If you really have your heart set on a brand new one, then I would suggest you invest in a membership at Sam's Club or Costco and pick up an industrial sized barrel of Vaseline....

 

You can get a remanufactured drive shaft from Auto Zone for $309.99.

Sounds like you are describing a cv axle though. Those are about $80 each at Advance. (New)
By the way, the cv axle just slides out, no bolts. Actually if it has never been removed, you may need to knock it pry it out. The splines can rust lock together. Don't be worried if the small shaft also comes out of the transfer case with the cv axle. Just separate it from the axle and reuse it with the new cv axle.

 

Yes, I was meaning the cv axle. As far as the driveshaft, well, if the cv axle doesnt work i was thinking of pulling the forward driveshaft, and driving around with 2wd only for a bit and see if that helps. I am going to do the cv axles first. I removed the wheel bearing hub nut at the center of the tire and then just pull it out? Do I take the boot off first?