I have a feeling that this is going to be worse than I first thought, but I have a question for you axle gurus before I tear in to this thing. The axle is not in a Jeep, but I'm asking here because this is the only group whose judgment I trust.
Anyway, driving home from work today, I start hearing this nasty noise that sounds like a VERY loose wheel bearing coming from the right rear wheel area. There is also a pulsing, almost like the brakes grabbing the drum, so my first thought is that the self adjuster must have stopped working and the brakes are really loose. The reason I am thinking (and hoping) it is just the brakes is that when I lightly touch the brake pedal, the noise and pulsing stop. The sound I hear is the worst when I am just leaving a stoplight, driving real slow, or decelerating. The noise isn't there if I am going at a steady speed or accelerating.
When I got home tonight, I jacked the rear of the truck up, and tried moving the tires up, down, and back and forth to see if maybe the outer bearing was loose due to failure, but there is no movement there. I also noticed that the right brake drum is much warmer than the left one. It's not hot, but it is definitely a lot warmer than the other side.
This axle only has about 10k miles on it. It does have a lock rite locker in it, and that is still working properly, because I hear it ratcheting when I turn. Everything in this axle was new, and it has been nice and quiet up to this point, so I am a bit puzzled. I would just tear in to this thing, but both of my stalls are occupied right now, and of course it is pouring rain. It never fails, LOL.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
Chris