Hey all,
I'm helping my buddy find a wheeling rig and we're looking at a 85 4runner with dual cases.
In 4 wheel drive the front driveline makes a gnarly noise while floating the throttle or coasting in neutral. It reminds me greatly of the noise my rear driveshaft was making when it had terrible u-joint play. The noise is also there while in 4 with hubs unlocked although not quite as loud (I think...) The sound was a lot of grinding and rattling. Under power the front driveline is quiet.
Upon inspection we found a bit of up-and-down play at the front output of the t-case. I did not have time or tools to pull the DS and see if the pinion nut was loose, so I am not sure if it is that or if the output bearing is going bad.
If this is the bearing, is it possible to replace without dropping the t-case? Would a bad bearing make noise all the time and not just while floating?