last night i was making a turn in my pickup (in 2wd) and i heard a loud grinding come from the front axel i think, i didnt think anything of it once i looked and didnt see anything wrong. so we got about 2" of snow and i put my truck in 4x4 and the front axel is kicking in and out, at first i thought it was just the passengers side hub but now i dunno as i just ripped it apart and didnt see anything wrong, its a dana 44 with stock hubs from 78. but now im starting to think it might be the t-case (np205) what is the chance of the t-case being the problem? i dunno what the weak spots are in it. i also had water in the front axel a while ago i dunno if that mightof killed the ring gear. when im driving on the flats it goes fine, but if i have to gas on it or go up a hill it feels like teeth in the hub or t-case or diff. is jumping. just shoot some ideas out there that might be a simple fix before i pull the whole driveline.

ok i just went to rotate my tires (they are almost bald but i was bored) and the hub that i just checked had about 3" of freeplay in it, meaning i could wiggle the tire round, pulled it off and the backside bearing was blown to bits, so i found half my problem, apparently the tit on the nut broke off in the lock washer and caused to to come loose, but why did it do this? i did replace the outer axel in this before and didnt have a problem. is this normal for d44's or is it just i didnt set it at the right foot pounds? im putting it back together now, i had a spare hub and everything sitting here with new bearings so i just tossed that on, but i dont want the tit to break off again on the nut