I have a Creaking, popping noise in front end. Sounds like drivers side when in 4wd. It almost sounds like the lugs are not tight on wheel but they are.
Have wheel off and everything looks tight, all rubber bushings look good.

I am thinking the axle nuts might need a check and possibly tightened?
They do have some flaky rust on them.

 

check your coil spring my truck made the same noise and the top of my coil spring was broke. Replaced the coil spring and the noise went away.

 

When in 4wd? Check the u-joint.

 

Which one? The drivers axle? How can u tell if it is bad?

 

Check them all. I had one go bad in the rear driveshaft. Within 4 months all the others followed.

To check, grab the driveshaft on both sides of the joint and twist, if there is any movement its bad. For the wheel joints (u-joint at the wheels) jack it up and block the truck. Might be easier to remove the wheel. Turn the steering wheel to full lock. Left or right, doesnt matter. Spin the rotor/hub and look and listen to the joint. Should be nice, tight and quiet. Any noises and its bad. Also make sure the ears of the hub and axle are square, evenly gapped. If not, joint is bad or something is bent.

If it just started, more than likely the joint is just bad.

 

I will try that. Just put the wheel back on for now. Weather not cooperating at the present time.

 

Put tire back on yesterday and noticed my lug nuts on all wheels had 2 to 3 lugs that needed re-torquing.
This is something that probably overlooked and just want to give everyone a heads up on something this simple as a maintenance check.

My brakes have about 60% pads left and need to replace them so I am going to do the wheel joints this spring when I do the brakes.

Not going to have time for a month but will give me time to round up the parts.

 

So now everything is put together and put in 4wd.
The noise sounds like a CV joint in a FWD vehicle when it goes bad.
Does it worse when turning. Going straight, there is a little pinging sound.

I try and do all my maintenance in spring and summer and now this BS.
My garage is too small to do this job and have to do itt outside.
Could not have happened at a worse time too. It has been snowing off and on for a couple days now.

I am suspecting the wheel joint is toast.
Seems like a simple job, but wondering what to look out for.
Does the hub get stuck on the shaft or should I get a puller to pop it off?
Once that is done, does the axle shaft just slide out and are the joints a pain in the *** using the vice method listed in manual?

Thanks

 

The hubs do stick to the knuckles sometimes. Mine didnt but others have. Be CAREFUL removing the axle from the tube. It just pulls out, but there is a seal inside. Install is the same, BE CAREFUL. You dont want to damage it.

Just remove wheel, caliper and bracket, rotor. Unbolt the hub from the knuckle and pull the axle and hub out as 1.

Also, I found it easier to use a hammer and socket to remove the old ones. Dont forget to remove the clips on the inside of the joints before trying to remove the joint.

 

Cool that's just what I was looking for and thanks for the advice.
Any tricks about not damaging the seal or just go low and slow?