One more time, one more question... then I'll leave you guys alone.
On this '87 F-150 I bought last fall there are manual hubs, a 4 speed, and a transfer case shifter. Transmission and shifter seem to work fine. The hubs are easy to switch in and out of "Free" and "Lock" mode.
When I drive it in 4WD in the snow (like we seem to have here every day) I get an occasional "clunk" from the front (not in the front differential I don't think) and occasionally hear a tick-tick-tick sound that almost immediately disappears.
You may have a hub slipping its main drive cog. Higher than normal pressure in the front end, like using 4wd on a dry surface forces the parts apart by overcoming the spring tension in the hub. The clicking sound you hear may be from the hub gears slipping while the splines are re-aligning. The clicking stops when the hub finally meshes again with the hub or the stub shaft. This is most common in the right front side on the Dana-44 IFS front end in your truck, but can happen in either side. Also, the stub shaft in that same side can strip the splines. Don't let it go, checking it out early could save you a little money.
worn u-joints on the front axles are a common cause of that clunk. grab ahold of the axle ( one at a time , each side ) with a big pair of channel locks and twist in both rotational directions and see if you cant spot some slop in the u-joints. You won't hurt anything so use some force.
all you really have to do is put the transfer case in 2wd, lock in the hubs and then twist the drive shaft. You'll see the slop in the ujoints right away.
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It will only hurt if you cant do the work yourself. Parts to plan on, Axle U-joints, inner wheel bearing seals, inner spindle bearings and seals. Special tool needed, the correct wheel bearing socket for your application. jack and jack stands. Remove lock hub (6 allen head screws or torx bits) remove wheel bearing lock nut, lock plate and wheel bearing adjusting nut. remove brake rotor assembly. Remove 6-8 nuts and lock cones holding the spindle to the spindle housing.mark the spindle so that you install it exactly as it came off. If there is a metal "gasket" between the spindle and the housing mark its orientation, usually its a tapered shim. slide axle out of housing, replace u-joint as you would on a drive shaft.. Clean and repack bearings, replace inner wheel bearing seal Inner spindle bearing is a needle bearing assembly in the spindle that supports the axle This bearing and its seal are often forgotten and neglected. Napa makes a tool that you can use to grease this bearing with out complete disassembly, you pull the lock hub off and it threads on the end of spindle, and you use a grease gun to repack bearing, it forces grease down the inside of the spindle over the axle shaft. Just like with bearing buddies on a trailer pump till clean grease comes out.. figure an 1 to 1.5 hours per side using hand tools the first time. I used to go through the entire bearing process to include clean and inspect the inner spindle bearing on every 4X4 I did a brake job on. with practice its 45 minutes per side.
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