Today was a great day to put on the chains and test them out for the jan 2 trip. Got down the driveway and got stuck. I dug my pride out and this is where I need some starting help:

I only have 1 pair of chains, so I put them on the front.
One rear tire is spining (open diff)
Neither front is turning (where I have the chains)
The transfer case is engaged as the front driveshaft is turning
Yes, I locked the hubs but still nothing...

Where should I start?

Thanks!!!

Pull the hubs and look to see if they are broke.

any hub part in particular?

First, check to see if your front driveshaft is spinning. This may require you to get it stuck again, or get all fours off the ground. If not, triple check that you are indeed in 4WD. Sometimes it's hard to find the right gears on a D-20. Also note that there is a 2WD Low on a t-shift case.

Once you pull off the allen head bolts off the hub, you'll be able to see if there is anything broken. Look for rust on the inside of the hub, or see if the locking mechanism is over greased too. You want a light coat of grease on all the parts, not packed in like a bearing. I like Lithium grease for my hubs.



J.D.

With trans. in gear or park, t-case in 4X4, and hubs locked in, jack up left front tire and rotate. If left front axle is not turning the problem is in the left hub. If left and right axles both turn, Problem is in right hub. If drive shaft turns, the problem is with t-case.
This will only work if you have an open diff.
Its probably not as bad as you think, maybe just a hub thats gummed up with old grease that won't let it engage?
Good luck, and have fun on the trip.
Ray

THanks guys. I would have done the above advice but I already have both hubs disassembled to the spindle nut. None of the parts look broken although the driver front looks pretty gummed up. I'm headed to the parts store to pick up some cleaning solution, grease and a spindle nut socket.

Do I need to take off the spindle nuts to check further parts or do you think I outta reassemble (after cleaning / greasing) and go to what REH said?

Thanks again guys!

Don't go further than the hub nut yet. Clean up and grease the hubs and try again. You can also get all fours off the ground with the hubs not installed, put the rig in gear and see if the axleshafts are turning. Depending on the drag, only one may turn, but they should have pretty equal drag and both should turn. If they do, then you know it's likely your hubs. Adding the load of the bronco does change things tho, but if you have one hub that is not engaging it has way less load than the one that does and will allow the axle shaft to spin freely as opposed to giving power to the hub that is engaged...

I would first put it back in 2WD and keep the hubs locked in and then crawl under and turn the front driveshaft by hand. If the Driveshaft turns see if both or one axle is turning.

I cleaned all the hub parts and put a little red bearing grease back in. When I put it in gear I could tell immediately that the hubs locked. It was dark so I put the truck back on my side of the garage and cleaned up...YEAH RIGHT! Since I had the chains on and my 4 wheel drive was functional again, I terrorized any snow bank that was standing. I left a few snow banks and promised my daughter we would smash em in the morning. She went to bed giggling.

You guys ROCK! Because of you, last years Christmas present is still our favorite!

You'll need those chains for sure. The news said they got 27" of fresh snow yesterday up there.

woohoo!