Need a little help.. I,m stuck.
My buddy has an 84 short bed that has some major front axle problems. "Sometimes" when he puts it in 4wd the front axle locks up, will not turn at all. It only does it when the hubs are locked and even then it doesnt do it all the time. I thought it was the hubs locking up but I put it up on jack stands and locked one hub at a time and they both seem to be working fine. I searched for a while and couldnt find anything even close to this. Your help would be greatly appreciated..

Need a little help.. I,m stuck.
My buddy has an 84 short bed that has some major front axle problems. "Sometimes" when he puts it in 4wd the front axle locks up, will not turn at all. It only does it when the hubs are locked and even then it doesnt do it all the time. I thought it was the hubs locking up but I put it up on jack stands and locked one hub at a time and they both seem to be working fine. I searched for a while and couldnt find anything even close to this. Your help would be greatly appreciated..

That's kind of a low level question for a a high level board.

But it sounds like a broken birfield. Or the pinion is not meshing correctly with the ring gear and is binding when you apply power to it.

Does the axle have a locker?
Does the axle have difficulty steering?

Need a little help.. I,m stuck.
My buddy has an 84 short bed that has some major front axle problems. "Sometimes" when he puts it in 4wd the front axle locks up, will not turn at all. It only does it when the hubs are locked and even then it doesnt do it all the time. I thought it was the hubs locking up but I put it up on jack stands and locked one hub at a time and they both seem to be working fine. I searched for a while and couldnt find anything even close to this. Your help would be greatly appreciated..


take it apart :idea:

Put it 4wd, does it make noise with the hubs unlocked?

If not, put it into 2wd and lock the hubs. Noise?

If not, look at the transfer not the axle. I've got one here that sounds like a box of rocks in 4wd. Upon closer inspection the transfer front drive section is gone. I'll be swapping this box out in the next couple of days. Quick way to check the transfer is to drop the front shaft and hand spin the front output. Odds are it'll be rough and a bit noisey. If so, you found it.

Im betting ring and pinion issue.

I'm betting if you take it apart you'll find the problem. Toyota 8" front axles aren't too complicated. Something should be obviously wrong.

If you really can't find anything, try swapping front and rear 3rds. See if the problem moves to the rear.

I'm betting if you take it apart you'll find the problem. Toyota 8" front axles aren't too complicated. Something should be obviously wrong.

If you really can't find anything, try swapping front and rear 3rds. See if the problem moves to the rear.


swapping the 3rds will basically require tearing down the whole front end anyways. so you will end up seeing if its the birfs or not.