4X4 chirps and jumps--help!

Hi, I am brand new here, and to 4 wheel drive....bought a 94 taco v6 manual with 200k miles.

Using 4x4 on dirt, no problems. But when you take it on the road, it starts bucking, chirping. Taken it to a couple mechanics and they don't know. I understand when you take a 4x4 on pavement, and turn, it does this because everything is turning at the same pace, yet the inside of a curve is shorter than the outside, so it can do this then. My problem is that it does this when going perfectly strait!
It appears that random wheels will spin/chirp, no rhyme or reason. IT does the same thing off road, but you don't notice it. It is bad enough that you simply cannot drive down the road. Replaced Wheel bearings , no improvement............

 

What did the previous owner do to the truck in terms of mods..? Is it possible he re-geared one of the diffs, but not the other?

Are there aftermarket lockers in either diff? Or any other signs of stuff being tampered with?

Is the 'chirping' speed dependent?

 

Huh...that is weird. I can drive my 04 in a straight line on pavement in 4wd and it acts just fine. Something ain't right

I'm wondering the same thing as @SR-71A ...do you know if the previous owner ever had any work done to the differentials? Either one, front or rear. If your truck came with say, 4.10 gears from factory and the previous owner swapped in a new rear diff for some reason that is a 4.30 or 4.56 (anything other than 4.10), it won't match the front and that will cause problems.

 

I don't know the history. Everything appears to be factory, though I am not a mechanic. Wheel locks say AISIN...is that factory? Chirping not speed sensitive, though don't dare drive more than 20 mph because it rides so rough like a bucking bronco.
So eon_blue, you have a 94? I have been wondering if I made a mistake buying such an old truck....

 

Welcome aboard

 

Welcome to TW!!

 

Jack it up in the front chalk the rear, lock the hubs . Put it in neutral. Spin the front drive shaft until you get a full rotation of the tires and count how many times you had to turn the driveshaft. Then do the rear . it should match the front If not the gear ratio is different.

 

Tires all the same size and worn the same?

 

Welcome to The Forum!

 

Are you saying you're using 4wd on pavement?

 

This ^^^

 

Straight line on pavement is not going to hurt anything. Binding only happens when you turn.

 

Even turning, its not like the truck is going to explode. Its just unnecessary wear. People get awful touchy about that on here haha

 

To be fair I have blown an axle turning on dry pavement before, but I'm pretty sure it was on it's last legs and that just did it in. Was on an icy road and made a sharp turn into a covered gas station....BANG, no more axle lol

 

I have an 04, but it's the same kind of truck you have (1st gen) just a later year model. I don't think you made a mistake in buying an older truck, but there's always risks with buying older vehicles especially if you don't know their full history and what was done to them. I would first try and confirm that your front and rear diffs are the same gear ratio using the method mentioned a couple posts up. Let us know what you find out

edit - never mind I see you have a 1994 not a Tacoma. It's still an IFS 4wd pickup though

 

Great advice, I will look into it when I have time. I know driving 4x4 on pavement is not good, but I just happened to be on pavement for a while and couldn't help but notice. Worst case, it is still useable off road. Still, it would be nice to have it right, for those occasional snow days we get down here in Texas. They don't have any salt or snowplows down here, so a 4x4 would be ideal for those occasions, to help all the rear wheel drive trucks out of the ditch.

 

Manual hubs?

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Off road shouldnt be a big deal if you really need it. But I might not use it on snowy roads until you get the issue figured out. If you do in fact have different gear ratios in the front and rear diffs, youll probably be less stable on the snow as the front and rear axles fight each other.

 

yes, manual hubs. Tires are all the same size and brand, with 95% tread no sign of wear.