Front end grabbing/ grinding?

[Jay-Fazed]

Hello everyone. Im new here and this is my first post. Anyway I have been experiencing a grabbing/ grinding feeling in my front end( mostly front passenger side) when I turn right at slow speeds. It is intermident but just feels like something is gonna break. I have read a lot of post about clunks, torque binding, locking, ect, but none of them describe mine. My TOD light isnt on, im not in 4lo. Any suggestions? Oh also I have torn outside cv boots onboth sides, but greese is still in them, and I ordered new ones from Independent4x.

[Knigh7s]

first off, welcome to the group, as some would say "addiction"!

Here is a thread (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=12036) that "might" describe what you are talking about. I say might because you state turning right with the right tire grabbing... usually it is the opposite tire of the direction you are turning.

Here is another thread (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=12825&highlight=tire+chirp) look at post #6 by Joe_Black

But I'm sure someone with a lot more know how will chime in.

[Jay-Fazed]

Thanks for the links. I have read those and Im not sure if those symptoms are the same. Well they sound the same but after reading through them it turns out something is differnt. like the TOD light turned on or something. I have no check lights being displayed and just had a service done( it made the sounds/ feelin before hand aswell). Im pretty stumped on all this. So please everyone chime in.. Knigh7s thanks agian for the help!

[MSHardeman]

Jay, welcome to the family and congrats on your "new" VX. Make sure to post pictures when you get a chance so we can all revel in the VX glow.

You didn't post anything about the year or milage of your VX so it might be a little difficult for us to diagnose what's going on, but I'll give it a shot. If the grinding feel/sound only happens intermitantly it may be a bearing going out. Depending on how long the boots have been torn, and if they are the boots down by the wheel, even though they still have grease in the CV joints the boot may be allowing water and other debris to get down in there and ruin the bearing.

I would think that if the passenger side bearing was going out it would make more noise as you turned left (and loaded the passenger side wheel) so I may be way off here.

[Jay-Fazed]

Hummm. sounds very possible. I will inspect the bearing when I do the boot install. The boots are till where they belong, just torn all the way around. I have an 99' Ironman edt. with 103k miles.

[nfpgasmask]

Well, are the boots torn because your VX is lifted? A torn boot and CV problems usually creates a clicking sound, but that is only in 4WD.

I am going to go out on a limb and ask about your brakes and rotors? From my experience, grinding often comes from worn out brakes/rotors.

Bart

[Jay-Fazed]

I thought it was my rotors too, but I just got the VX serviced and the brakes was part of their inspection. I guess I should look over them aswell. Can't always trust the shop did what they told you they were gonna do. Im VX isnt lifted...yet! I wanted the front end issues to be cleared up be for I lift it and possibly creat more problems. Thanks for your input!

[nfpgasmask]

I thought it was my rotors too, but I just got the VX serviced and the brakes was part of their inspection. I guess I should look over them aswell. Can't always trust the shop did what they told you they were gonna do. Im VX isnt lifted...yet! I wanted the front end issues to be cleared up be for I lift it and possibly creat more problems. Thanks for your input!

Yeah, I would definitely look at their work with a keen eye. As you said, you can't always trust what the shop did, and that is why many of us opt to do as much work outselves as possible. Plus, you will find that most shops have never even seen a VX, let alone worked on one! :eek: The VX does not really work so good with many types of after market brake pads. Do you have maintenance records from the previous owner? With that many miles on the VX, and with no records, you never know if your brakes were ever serviced. If I was you I would give the VX all the maintenance work needed for 100k as soon as possible, regardless of what the shop says. But that's just me and I tend to go overboard with babying my VX. :D

And if your CV boot is torn and you are NOT lifted, that makes me wonder. Either you live somewhere that has a harsh climate that would cause the boot to crack, or the previous owner did some damage under there somehow. With a cracked boot, I would say that CV problems should be the first place to look.

If you have oversized tires make sure they aren't slightly rubbing on your cladding, but I am sure you would have noticed that by now.

Bart

[pbkid]

If you have oversized tires make sure they aren't slightly rubbing on your cladding, but I am sure you would have noticed that by now.

Bart

thats actually EXACTLY what i was gonna say...maybe you arent noticing oversized tires rubbing on the front cladding??

just something simple to look at..

[Jay-Fazed]

My tires are 275/65/16. Hardly oversized compared to others Ive seen. And The pervious owner gave me a copy of the 100k service. Beyond that i dont know what was done. The shop I took it to(dont have an isuzu dealer in town) had never seen or heard of a VehiCROSS too.lol But i figured i was just geting some standard thing done( brake flush, diff. lube changed to synthetic front and rear, eng oil change synthetic, spark plugs, pvc, ect) Nothing vehical specific. The previous owner idnt even know how many owners there were before him! I couldnt pass on the price 6k! And everything works great, just that weird feeling when I make SLOW turns. I did go over a large bump once and had probelms with what i thought was torque binding for a while then it cleared up. And now it kinda back but just the front end not the rear. Well keep it comming guys. Ill take my VX to a brake place and see if there is any abnormal wear, maybe it time for some R1concept rotors!

[circmand]

all 4 tire tread depth and inflation. Make sure the tires with deeper tread are in the back and have the same psi in each tire. I experienced something similar when one of my tires had a slow leak

[VehiGAZ]

Alignment maybe?

[Jay-Fazed]

Alignment? I dont think i would get a grabbing sensation because of that. Maybe? Ill look into it. Thanks agian everyon for the ideas. Hopefully it will all be fixed this weekend.

[VehiGAZ]

If you have a lot of toe out on one side, that can bind up the tires when turning sharp and slow, as you described.

Good luck!

[Marlin]

If you have a lot of toe out on one side, that can bind up the tires when turning sharp and slow, as you described.

Good luck!

It could be the wheel bearings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mine had about 115K when I got it, no noise driving straight, until I got up to 75ish. By the time I got home to SC, I had added about 800 miles, it was then making the noise at 60ish, and on slow, tighter turns. It continued to get worse, until it was at 40mph, and on all turns. It felt like a grinding, rubbing, horrible metal on metal feeling. (This was all over a few days, during the New Years/Christmas week, so I had to wait to get it in the shop. Replaced both front wheel bearing sets and now its perfect. But with your boot torn...that could be bad indeed.
Welcome to the gang and good luck!!!!

[Jay-Fazed]

I was thinking the bearingd too. I just got my brakes inspected( im in need of front rotors in the future but not now) all was fine. I have purchased the mec tech cv boots and will install them, but i dont think thats gonna solve anything. I was under the impression that if it were the CV's you would get the sound/ feeling on every rotation? Thanks everyone! This site rocks!!!!! Glad to be part of the crew!

[Solitude]

FYI, the bearings are inside the rotors on the front, might be an incentive to change them out sooner rather then later..

Best wishes

Jeff

[tom4bren]

Y'all are making a simple diagnosis difficult. There are exceptions but:

Clicking/grinding/binding while going straight (particularly when at slow speeds) is a sign of inner CV wear.

Clicking/grinding/binding while turning (particularly in slow speed tight turn) is a sign of outer CV wear.

Since you have torn outer boots, fix that first to see if that is the complete cure.

Careful tho, the torn boot is the cause of the problem but is NOT the problem. The CV is worn now since it ran without grease & probably accumulated a lot of abrasives. I know that one member ran without any boots at all for a while with no problems (lucky b@stard). In my case, I tore my inner boots while 300 miles from home. By the time I got home, my CVs were toast. It took months to find someone who would rebuild my CVs and it wasn't cheap. That's why I'm now the self appointed Gestapo for inspecting CV boots on a regular basis (when did you last check yours?). That's also why I've been trying to help those with lifts of 3" to get diff drops.

Search on CV, boots, or mechatech to find all kinds of info on the subject. Also don't forget to download the installation instructions that Billy made (and print a copy to have on hand during the install).

[Jay-Fazed]

Thanks for the info! I did download the write up for the boot install, and put them on two days ago.....BUT just like you said the boot was a result of a problem, not the problem. So just yesterday I was driving and the sound/feeling came back then I heard a clicking and I pulled over an took a look. The CV SNAPED!!!!! Now I will begin my long search for someone to rebiuld/ fab up a new one for me. ANybody got good idea who to talk to?

[tom4bren]

Sorry dude - H8 it when that sorta thing happens.

Use the search on CVs or half shafts. There are several threads on the subject with info on locating the parts. There was even some discussion on cross over with Trooper parts.

I was able to locate replacement parts from a bone yard & the shop used most of the parts in the rebuild. I had bad luck with all of the online sites that listed rebuilt units (said they were available but weren't).

You can remove your shafts and just leave the outer races (green cups) in place. You'll only have 2WD but at least it's driveable.

[Jay-Fazed]

Yeah I limped my little beast back home, but all is fine. I have been searching for replacement half shafts and have even used the parts quest site( thought i would give it a try).

[tom4bren]

Jay,

Check out this thread:

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?threadid=15553

Tom

[enderg]

Have you changed you Transfer Case Oil?

Mine was binding on tight turns with a bit of whine... it got real loud one day and would barely turn. I was fearing the worst until I found a thread suggesting I change the T/C oil. That was the solution!!

Good luck.

ender

[Marlin]

I nearly fainted today. I had the sinking feeling in my gut. I was in the garage, cutting tubing for my bumper, attempting to weld, decided to get a new welding helmet. The new Chief Selects(Navy promotion system for E7s) were doing a car wash, as a Chief, I felt obligated to help them. So I took the vx out to a good old fashioned swamp trail. Got it covered with gloopy mud, as my 4yr old calls it. No problems, had a blast. VX performed perfect as usual, until I got on the road. Then all hell broke loose. The TOD light started flashing, and I couldn't turn worth a damn. I got that sinking feeling. Pulled over, turned it off, turned it back on, no light. Wooohooooo!!!!!!!!! Until I started to turn around. It felt like I was pushing against a rock, and then, bam, it started moving. My first thought was a tie rod or anti sway bar, but I was just in mud, nothing hard and I didn't hit anything. Hmmmm, felt even worse, cause then the Check TOD light came on again. It was driving ok, I put it 4wL, no problems, put it back in high, still the same. So I drove it home, it felt heavy when turning, like I was driving in sand or something. Got it home, and immediately jumped on here. My wife knew something was wrong, I was very distraught.
Found this thread, matched my symptoms, but it was covered in mud, so nothing to do but pressure wash it so I could check the harnesses. Washed it all out, pulled it out of the driveway to clean the mud off the driveway, decided to check it again, and voila, problem solved. Drove another 40 miles today since, and no problems, everything back to normal. Once it cools down, I need to find the harnesses for the TOD sensors so I can CRC them and then pump em full of dielectric grease. Boy was I relieved, this I can fix, I dind't want to have spend another 300-400 bucks to repair something like that.
Tomorrow I will track down those harnesses...

[VXorado]

Marlin,

Glad to hear it was an easy fix! Jay Fazed sold his VX to me (ho ha ha ha). He had fixed this problem before I bought it and I haven't experienced it. He ended up replacing one of the CV joints and that fixed the problem.

Here's the interesting part, There's mud caked on almost everything in the undercarriage. I've pressured washed the VX 3-4 times in the last month and I still am finding "cement mud". Thats two VXs that have had the same problem with mud as the possible culprit. Now that i've read your post, i'm thinking mud is very bad for our VXs. Jay fazed had cracked CV boots which could have allowed mud to easily get into the CV joints. I'm gonna pressure wash the VX again and get ALL the mud off, maybe it will fix problems I don't even have...

[BlackVXer99]

just out of curiosity, whats it cost to have the bearings replaced on all 4 wheels at shop? ball park figure..

may have to make a visit to St. charles isuzu, im only about 45 mins away. :(

im having some grinding noises when i slow from about 15 mph to 0. im hoping its just brake pads though, im about due for new ones.

[Marlin]

just out of curiosity, whats it cost to have the bearings replaced on all 4 wheels at shop? ball park figure..

may have to make a visit to St. charles isuzu, im only about 45 mins away. :(

im having some grinding noises when i slow from about 15 mph to 0. im hoping its just brake pads though, im about due for new ones.

No rear bearings, I wouldn't bother going that far to Isuzu for bearings. I had mine done at Pepboys, front wheels, inner and outer, and it was less than 200 with the parts I think. The Isuzu dealership in Columbus, OH quoted me 600 for the same job.