Sami axle binds up in 4wd cant steer...

[The#1Dakota]

I got a 92 trackick with sami front axle with trackick hogs head.
When in 4wd & hubs locked I cant hardly turn left or right. Could this be one of the birfields is bad? I also took one of the hubs off and there is allot of play in the end of the shaft with hub removed which does not look good...?
I put front on jack stands and when locked u turn one wheel forward with ur hand the wheel travels abt 1.5" min till the other wheel starts to move, seems like allot of play. Thinking birfields.....
The front is not locked up. I just got my engine back in so took for 1st test drive. I bought this vehicle with bad engine so working out kinks in drive terrain now .

 

[The#1Dakota]

Well, I got driver side pulled out everything seems good no play in birfield, kingpin bearings feel tight, wheel bearing feels tight. I hope I can find something wrong on passenger side starting to worry I got to get this thing ready by next weekend for zuwharrie haha... If anyone has time saturday and lives close to salisbury nc I would love some help pm me for address haha Ill supply food ect....

 

[csudman]

You sure you don't have a welded front diff? I'm assuming you didn't do the axle swap.

If that is the case, theres nothing wrong. Its just hard to turn and damn near impossible on concrete unless your moving pretty good.

 

[trevoringle]

yeah like csudman said, if the front is locked itl take about all you got to get that thing to turn, i just locked my front up on my samurai and im deffintly going to power steering now

 

[a_kelley]

ratios match Front/Rear? check that by put it up on two wheels if its open diffs (four for locked), mark top of front wheel, and spin rear wheel one or more revs. if the ratios match, the front wheel mark should wind up in the same location or very very close to it.

when you turned one wheel forward, did the other spin forward with it? if it did, its welded/locked, although with a locker it should unlock on the faster turning wheel, unless i'm misunderstanding locker function (My understanding: power sent to tire thats spinning slower)

 

[catfishblues]

There should be some play in and out. However it should be limited significantly by a c-clip on the end of the axleshaft. Look at the stub shaft. You'll see a groove near the end. that's where the clip should go. It's a bitch to get back on if you don't know what you're doing. I can see where somebody might think it isn't necessary and leave it off. If they're not there, the birfield joint could move in relation to the kingpin axis and cause some binding, I guess. Also, you said the wheel moves 1.5" before the other one does. That isn't too much. Big question, though, does the other one spin the same direction? If so, it's locked, and it's definitely going to be tough to turn without power steering.

 

[The#1Dakota]

There should be some play in and out. However it should be limited significantly by a c-clip on the end of the axleshaft. Look at the stub shaft. You'll see a groove near the end. that's where the clip should go. It's a bitch to get back on if you don't know what you're doing. I can see where somebody might think it isn't necessary and leave it off. If they're not there, the birfield joint could move in relation to the kingpin axis and cause some binding, I guess. Also, you said the wheel moves 1.5" before the other one does. That isn't too much. Big question, though, does the other one spin the same direction? If so, it's locked, and it's definitely going to be tough to turn without power steering.

ratios match Front/Rear? check that by put it up on two wheels if its open diffs (four for locked), mark top of front wheel, and spin rear wheel one or more revs. if the ratios match, the front wheel mark should wind up in the same location or very very close to it.
when you turned one wheel forward, did the other spin forward with it? if it did, its welded/locked, although with a locker it should unlock on the faster turning wheel, unless i'm misunderstanding locker function (My understanding: power sent to tire thats spinning slower)

You sure you don't have a welded front diff? I'm assuming you didn't do the axle swap.

If that is the case, theres nothing wrong. Its just hard to turn and damn near impossible on concrete unless your moving pretty good.

yeah like csudman said, if the front is locked itl take about all you got to get that thing to turn, i just locked my front up on my samurai and im deffintly going to power steering now

Thx for the info guys!! Yeah I swear I though i checked but it is welded both spin in same direction. I also found a hub that still works but has allot of play which was my where all my slack came from on passenger side. I bought this vehicle with swap already done. I just swaped engine I had into it. Im pulling the hogs head out now to check ratios. I do have a spare hogs head i could swap in.

 

[a_kelley]

Thx for the info guys!! Yeah I swear I though i checked but it is welded both spin in same direction. I also found a hub that still works but has allot of play which was my where all my slack came from on passenger side. I bought this vehicle with swap already done. I just swaped engine I had into it. Im pulling the hogs head out now to check ratios. I do have a spare hogs head i could swap in.

All I was saying was that an easy way to check the ratios, if your rear is open, leave one wheel on the ground. raise both front wheels and rotate either the rear or the front wheel one revolution and the rear should rotate one revolution. No pulling needing to check.. Of course needs to be in 4wd and neutral to do that.

 

[rattlecanpaint]

There's actually no need to pull the hogs head to check ratios either. Just mark the tire and the input shaft and count how many times the input turns to on full tire revolution.

 

[The#1Dakota]

All I was saying was that an easy way to check the ratios, if your rear is open, leave one wheel on the ground. raise both front wheels and rotate either the rear or the front wheel one revolution and the rear should rotate one revolution. No pulling needing to check.. Of course needs to be in 4wd and neutral to do that.

There's actually no need to pull the hogs head to check ratios either. Just mark the tire and the input shaft and count how many times the input turns to on full tire revolution.

Oh ok yeah I checked the rear that way and front was already apart so I just went ahead and pulled hogs head and counted and looked at the weld ratios all match. Got it all back together! Nothing was wrong like i thought but at least I know the condition of everything haha tor it apart a good axle I just didnt know it was that difficult to steer a welded front on trackers and sami's lol. I will be swaping to a samurai carrier and locker down the rd got all the parts just got to get help set em up... Thx again!! Now I can make it to zuwharie now this weekend!