weird noise

Recently i had a awful noise coming from front passenger side tire,sounded like a dragging/metal rubbing. Thought it might be a rock or chunk of snow after looking it over because it went away. Today i locked the hubs when i was done i unlocked them and the noise is back. I do recall unlocked the hubs the day it happened the first time. I took off the tire checked the brake,checked the hub,the thing i dont understand is when i shift it into 4WD the noise goes away. Any ideas?

 

Are they manual hubs?

 

Yes they are manual.

 

From your description , it sounds like the hub is not coming fully out of 4x4 .
It would explain why the noise goes away when your put the hub back in 4x4 .
Take it apart and give it a good cleaning/ inspection .
I beleive the hub model on your truck is very lightly greased .

 

Had similar experience with 96 when I got it used. Took the hub cover to inspect and there's a bolt and washer backed out completely. Had to get new bolt/washer. That fixed mine. Maybe you get lucky too.

 

I took the cover off, everything looked good no dirt or water,clean. Mine does NOT have the bolt in the axle end. I hear a squeak now instead of the nasty rubbing.

 

I know just enough to get in trouble about this. I know that all the parts should have light coat multi purpose grease.Possibly not the problem.

 

My pass. side wheel bearing just went out the otherday kinda out of the blue, weird no signs of failure just rolled out of driveway , put on the brakes & it pulled to the right & was making a grind like worn pads on metal but brakes were fine, turned out to be bearing so dont rule it out anyway

 

I was able to shift from 2wd to 4wd while the truck was moving before this started. I tried toady and it wanted to grind gears. I have check the diffential and trans oil level too.

 

Thanks for the help,I'm pretty sure it's the wheel bearing even though there's not much play. Looks like a lot of work to change it,any tips would be great. Suggestions on bearing brands?