Please Help! Diagnosing front end noises (1 Viewer)

[Archengine]

I recently bought a 96' FJ80, 85,000 miles, with factory lockers. After a few months I started to notice a sound coming from the front right wheel whenever I was turning right and accelerating. The noise is like a 'whump...whump...whump....' sound. It gets louder the faster I try to accelerate, and quieter if I take the turn easy. A little while ago I heard the sound while I was driving straight on a choppy road, I assume due to front tire compression. I immediately thought of BBS, but after reading the FAQ and searching, I no longer think so. I climbed under the truck to look for anything loose, and could not find anything. I have considered spraying every steering joint with some wd40 to see if the sound goes away temporarily, to help me isolate the 'whump'. Anything else to try?

I also had the front locker engaged over the weekend, and on full turn, I heard a clicking coming from my front, I believe the passenger side. Are these related?

I'm about to rebuild my front axle, do I need new birfs? I had planned on swapping them side to side. They only make the clicking on full turn while locked, so can they be swapped side to side, or do I need to replace them?

Thanks for your opinions. Robert

 

[barCruiser]

I would think its your birfield joint going bad on the side that is making the noise. Check the grease level in the joint and also check the front diff oil to see if it's been contaminated with birf grease.

 

[motorsargeT]

X2 on the birfield

 

[Archengine]

I'm fairly certain the clicking is the birf, but are you saying the 'whumping" sound is the birf aswell?

 

[Archengine]

I guess I'm surprised about a bad birf. I'm under 90K miles, and it was a stock truck when I received it. Since I've owned it, I've been real easy on it, having only been out on the farm, no real off-road. Must have been poor PO maintenance?

 

[tea LC]

i had a metal on metal "whump" sound at lower speeds that sounded like it was coming from the front... with the help of board advice, i put grease in both knuckles and each zirk and the noise was gone...

my truck had 117k at this point and was told to do this greasing every 15/20k to keep things smooth...

just an idea, your "whomp" can be something else tho