Wheel Bearing going bad? Lots of grinding noises

[SunlitComet]

actually it just would lock the drive-shaft. at any rate you have the same effect as what i was trying to achieve. remove your drum for inspection of a binding or loose brake mechanisms getting caught up between the the brake shoes or loose shoes themselves. if you find nothing turn your attention to the drive shaft bearings in differential.

 

[Donnie Yukonie]

did you ever check your hubs? by jacking the front of the truck and grabbing the top and bottom of the tire and trien to shake it vertically?

 

[cobbcfi]

I checked the front hubs, no movement and no grinding. Spinning the back wheels after about 8-10 rotations it's like the rear-end has engaged something and its starts grinding and the wheels become difficult to spin, or spin less freely. There is definitely something in there that grabs out of no-where causing grinding noises.

---------- Post added at 11:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 AM ----------

Pulled the drive shaft and both U-joints are greased and in good condition. Pulled the caps and they are full of grease.

 

[noJeepshere]

I think what you're experiencing is your gov-loc doing its job. Look on the glove compartment door for G80, that is the production code for the gov-loc. To test the rear axle outer bearings, jack up the rear, pull the tire and drum off and grab the axle flange and wiggle it around. Any more than a teeny bit of movement and they're bad.

 

[cobbcfi]

I checked the glovebox door and scrolling through the list I found the G80 code.. Can you give me a little know-how what a gov-loc is??

I am going to pop the back tires of and check the rear hubs again in just a sec and will update..

Just to let you know that other than the loud grinding sound with the wheels off the ground when I have been driving it, there doesn't seem to be any cluncking or banging like you would expect from a "ring gear" or the likes..

What are the odds of a failed "carrier bearing" and how would I test that??

 

[SunlitComet]

open it up and here is an example of a gov bomb failure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zit49L-7_A

 

[cobbcfi]

That guys sure loves the "Gov-Loc".. Now he's got me spooked..

---------- Post added at 08:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 PM ----------

OK, so I pulled the left rear tire and drum.. Everything looks good other than normal wear. Pushed and pulled back and forth from top to bottom and side to side and no rocking motion at all. Pulled straight up and and dropped it and heard a click. Pulled out my dial gauge and and set it up, pushing down from a resting axle I got -.002 (Neg 2 thousandths of an inch) pulled it all the way up from resting position and got .008 (8 thousandths of an inch) of travel for a total travel of .010 (10 thousandths of an inch). Is that within a respectable margin of error? Headed out to check the other side now..

Thanks for any help

 

[SunlitComet]

So far so good.

 

[cobbcfi]

On the right side tire, I get a very very limited rocking motion only up and down.. Very limited rocking but it does slide in and out almost .035 (35 thousandths of and inch) and it seems to be a little more suspect because the driver side doesn't move in and out laterally at all.. Passenger side lateral movement .035..

Not sure if that makes it a culprit though?? Obviously it's not good but is it bad?

---------- Post added at 09:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 PM ----------

THAT'S IT!!! What does the "Gov-Loc" engage?? Both rear axles turn freely in both directions without a sound!! More than 10 revolutions in the forward direction WHEN that "Gov-Loc" (I guess) engages here comes the grinding sound that I am talking about. It's NOT at the hubs or drums, it's in the differential somewhere.. When I make the grinding noise turning the hubs once the "Gov-Loc" is engaged, from either side the grinding sounds like its coming from the far side I.E. the middle of the truck/axle.

THIS SOUNDS EXPENSIVE!!!

 

[SunlitComet]

If you don't want a RRaction control device to can just replace it with an open differential in there if it is the problem.