Front axle questions and issues. (1 Viewer)

[ICY80]

Figured I’d jump on here to see what y’all think. Gonna be a big one. I have a few things. First off. My 80 is on a 3 inch doninsons lift on 34 inch ridge grapps. I Noticed today when I have my 80 locked in front and rear and in 4 low… when I roll forward and switch between full lock left and right I have a very loud singular pop sound like it’s in a bind or something. I mean I have no issues, it locks in quickly like usual. Just or two loud pops each time I go full lock left and right while rolling both forward and backwards. Another thing. I also sometimes have multiple pop sounds coming from my birfields up front when full lock left and right, with diffs locked in front and rear. They do not leak grease, but seem to go through it, so I grease them heavily (a tube in each side pretty much) and they stop popping for a good while, when they start again I grease them. I have not had my castor corrected yet with my 3 inch lift. And yes I know I need to do that asap. But my question is, will it drive better with it corrected? I want the delta arms to fix it I believe. And should I get the delta rear panhard kit? Will that help anything? Don’t really know what it does. I’m learning. Just want this thing to be good to go. I know 245k miles is a lot to ask with original axle components but It should have some life left right? I change the diff fluid regularly especially after water crossings. Another thing- I did the DC front shaft and that seems to have helped with the roaring sound but it still does it occasionally for some reason.

But I Drove 1k miles mainly interstate and rough off-roading weekend after last with no issues. Planning on going on a 35 hour roadtrip to Colorado this summer. Should I be worried about anything front axle related?
Appreciate it fellas. Just looking for some pointers

 

[ppc]

Is this popping happening on pavement or on dirt?

 

[CrabCake]

Is this popping happening on pavement or on dirt?

Yup, good to know...you never really want to lock it all the way on dry pavement. Unless you are going in a perfectly straight line, the wheels will be turning at different speeds and need to be able to slip a bit if the diff/s are locked. Honestly, I'd never turn mine full lock left or right with the front locker engaged unless you are on a surface that the tire could easily slip on.

Now on to the caster & panhard bracket....you need correction on the front with a lift...mine had the OME bushings when I got it on the 2" lift and seemed to be pretty good. I swapped to the Delta 3 radius arms and it made a huge difference in drivability as it corrected the caster a few more degrees than the bushings did (keep in mind that you have NO correction now, so even bigger difference for you). Rear panhard bracket is the same idea...drove pretty well without it, but much better road manners with it installed. The idea is to have the panhard as parallel to the axle/ground as possible to keep the axle both centered under the car and keeping minimal shift under both compression and flex. I can't say enough about both of these products on improving your drivability.

I've been running on 315's now for a while and just updated to the Dobinsons variable rate coils for a touch more lift and better flex, plus the IMS shocks...game changer again both on and off road!

 

[ICY80]

Is this popping happening on pavement or on dirt?

Dirt. Haven’t tried binding it up on pavement. I’m scared lol.