Hello again. It has to be said that I am a bad man, and treat my digger badly. Despite the fact that from time to time I grease nipples around the vehicle, I have never lubricated either front hub. Now when the digger is turning I get a loud series of clacks, which increase in frequency and volume as I approach full lock. I see at the top of the hub what appears to be a grease nipple but it is rusted solid, but it has a straight shaft, not like other nipples which have a ridge to hold the grease gun on. Also on other nipples there is a hex base so you can replace them. There is no hex. So, it this where the hub should be lubricated, and if so how. Given the noise, it may, of course, already be too late.
I'll guess your universal joint is worn. I have to go back in a manual. I feel the knuckle has two fittings top & bottom for trunnions, but the U joint is oil bath lubricated from the planetary.
That sounds like a very expensive repair.
I don't remember a big cost. I had mine apart for seals & gaskets. Mine didn't need a U joint. It's an all day job if you have the parts on hand.
A picture(s) is worth a thousand words !
I got under the digger, turned the prop shaft, but could not see any play in the UJ, but there was a click inside the hub, very worrying, I looked at the excellent video from Travis Christy on Youtube who dismantled the hub, well out of my league. I may just have to sell the digger as it is, I wonder which part or parts need replacing that is causing that click, however when driving, it only happens when turning, never when driving straight.
After viewing that youtube video, and seeing the substance of the planetary and ring gears I wonder what might be making that clicking sound, it doesn't seem to fit, could a piece of bushing have dropped between the gears, I would have thought that if the hub components were worn it would have more likely caused a grinding rather than clicking, and why when just turning, there is no clicking when driving straight ahead. I want to sell the digger, but I must be honest about any issues with the proposed buyer. The universal joint seems fine.
Ignorance again, I was trying the UJ on the prop shaft, but of course the play must be in the UJ where the hub pivots. That looks like something which will be very difficult to remove and replace, especially for me, I wonder how much a repair like that might cost, labour being the majority of the bill. Is that clicking likely to get worse quickly and cause a possible issue with the drive?
Yes, it will get worse. More than likely, a cap has been destroyed and the needle bearings are falling out. That mean on every revolution, the stub from the u-joint is hitting inside the yoke, causing the clicking. Best way to diagnose, is to prop up the front wheels with the bucket and turn wheel to full lock, whichever one, for best access. The rotate shaft by hand and watch for a wobble, you should be able to see it. Not very expensive, or hard to fix. About a 4 hour job, with the parts.
It’s not as daunting as you think, it can be pulled apart very quickly if you can get your top and bottom king pins out. If they come out you can be at the double cardin joint in an hour. If they are stuck, lots and lots of hammer and punch work. I just done hub and axle seals in mine last month and had the machine back to work by lunchtime.