Front wheels locking up in 4wd???

[eremoy]

I tested my 4wd today for the first time in a while and when I make sharp turns in 4wd, the front tires seem to sieze up and my truck struggles to drive and I can't keep driving untill I straighen out my wheels or take it out of 4wd. After that happened I was like oh s*** so I took it out of 4wd while my wheels were still turned and it made a loud clunk and my truck kind of jolted.

I've known I need to replace my entire cv half shaft assembly because the outer joints click when turning and one of the inner boots has been busted for months. But, will fixing this fix my problem with the 4wd or what are some other potential diagnoses.

Also, I was inspecting the driver's side inner boot that was in okay condition, and I accidentally punched a hole in it. Today, after I tested the 4wd, I noticed all the greese contained in the joint was expelled all over the ground and my undercarriage. So should I not drive it untill I fix it so I dont mess up anything on that side?

Thanks for your help!

 

[CJ3Flyr]

I tested my 4wd today for the first time in a while and when I make sharp turns in 4wd, the front tires seem to sieze up and my truck struggles to drive and I can't keep driving untill I straighen out my wheels or take it out of 4wd. After that happened I was like oh s*** so I took it out of 4wd while my wheels were still turned and it made a loud clunk and my truck kind of jolted.

I've known I need to replace my entire cv half shaft assembly because the outer joints click when turning and one of the inner boots has been busted for months. But, will fixing this fix my problem with the 4wd or what are some other potential diagnoses.

Also, I was inspecting the driver's side inner boot that was in okay condition, and I accidentally punched a hole in it. Today, after I tested the 4wd, I noticed all the greese contained in the joint was expelled all over the ground and my undercarriage. So should I not drive it untill I fix it so I dont mess up anything on that side?

Thanks for your help!

I am basing this answer assumption you have an older T4R without the center Torsen differential.
-You have part-time 4wd. You should only use it part-time, that part of the time is when the surface is slick. The surface needs to be more slippery than a wet road.
-The older part-time 4wd has no way of compensating for the difference in the distances the front and rear axles travel. The F&R tires are a slightly different O.D. due to weight and when you turn the axles travel different distances. The t-case on a part-time 4wd turns the driveshafts exactly the same RPM and has no mechanism to deal with difference between the F&R axle and it binds up as you describe.
-The hard bumping you felt was the extra energy being released as the gears tried to dis-engage.

If you have a Torsen center diff was it locked? What year is it.

You should replace the boot fairly soon. The combination of junk getting in the grease being gone will destry the joint fairly quickly. It's a lobor intensive job. If you get it soon it's a $30 part and some labor. Depending on mileage it may make sense to just put in a whole remanufactured half-shaft.

Good luck!


EDIT: You have a '94, it is part-time 4wd. Here's a thread with similar question, similar answer: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42257

:cheers: