Offroad-Express

hi there got a 97 3 door, the proplem is when in 4wd turning hard lock anti clockwise get about half a circle in then theres a bang in the front like somethings getting bound up??? took of sway bar didnt change any thing. takes about half a circle before it does it again. its not a click noise. any one got any thoughts or had the same proplem

blown cv

or your auto hub has seen better days

Been told there are not auto hubs. Its got like a blanking plate on the end if that makes sense.

normally the suzuki auto hubs say "AUTO" on them in big letters from what ive seen.
if they are manual there should be a kind of slot that you would turn between fre wheeling hub and locked hub, but again there are normally words saying "free" and "lock" on the end cap of the manual hub.
hope this helps. if youre still not sure post up a picture???

They not auto hubs and not not manual had a 413 ute with the same set up. So cv turns all the time. This model has a tube going into the front diff ( not breather ever )bac up to maybe solinolds?? (wires an little black box) mouted on strut brace so when you engage 4wd theres a little hum noise before 4wd is ingauged. Also it cv was blown i wouldnt be getting drive in the front??

here's a pic of the front hub

you will still get drive at the wheel if a cv is on its way out, it will get worse and worse though.

(wires an little black box) mouted on strut brace so when you engage 4wd theres a little hum noise before 4wd is ingauged. Also it cv was blown i wouldnt be getting drive in the front??

Sounds like they could be vacuum engaged hubs then... so still may be a problem with them if not the cv's
How much lift have you got?...

Otherwise could be like lugs on tyre catching on chassis then popping free or something too...

Got no suspension lift only body lift and was making noise before i done body lift. Tyres dont catch on chassis. Running bigger tyres. std are 215/60/16 and mine are 225/75/16. pastime is running same size tyres 2nd zuk like mine and hasnt done it on both of his zuks so dont think its tyres. As i say it takes about half a tight circle before it does it like something gets to much tension then bang and a good shutter in front . This zuk hasnt done hardly any off road work (yet )

Is this when on a hard surface in 4wd? If so then you are loading up the transfer case and the bang could be the tension being released. Not sure where it would be though.

Remember the front wheels turn through a different arc than the rear wheels so the distance they travel is different. when the hubs are locked and the transfer case locked into 4wd all the wheels are locked together and are forced to turn at the same rate (okay with the diff their is some variance but on a hard hi traction surface its minimal). Basically the front axle wants to travel a diffent distance to the rear axle and the t case wont allow it. On a low traction surface the wheels slip a little and this built up tension is released (you may hear it on a hard surface with the tyres 'chirping' as you turn.

Failing that I would look at the CV's (weak point) then the diff (check the mount on the third member hasnt broken /cracked). Can you recreate this with the front unlocked and off the ground (try one wheel off the ground at a time)

Good luck,

Heath

bigbear wrote:hi there got a 97 3 door, the proplem is when in 4wd turning hard lock anti clockwise get about half a circle in then theres a bang in the front like somethings getting bound up??? took of sway bar didnt change any thing. takes about half a circle before it does it again. its not a click noise. any one got any thoughts or had the same proplem

you've try'ed it both ways and it only does it on a left hand turn yes, if you continue to turn does it happen again ??
have you tryed to move any of the front drive line by hand, is there any contact marks where the tire could have touched the body (look for polish marks or bent edges of pannels) I know you said it dosn't touch but at rest you arn't loading your suspension bushes
Can you get a mate to watch as you do this, see if it is making a wheel lurch, lockup and if so which wheel
Your pic shows it is running drive flanges and I havn't seen a vitara run an auto axle setup like some of the independent hilux's so you have a nice simple setup hmmm

if it only happens turning left at full lock then I would guess, shagged or damaged suspension bushing on the left hand wheel allowing it to contact the body or more interestingly a sirclip may have come off on one of your axles allowing it to move in or out under load and the bang is the ends binding into the diff or axle moving out of the drive flange and unloading
the only other thing to look at is the drive shaft are the UJ's sloopy??
If it was a CV being an open axle IFS system I would expect it to have parted company, with a lot of noise a good way to cheak this is to grab the CV boot if its the problem there will be a bolge on one of them where the cage has split

If i continue yes it does it again takes a bout another half circle to do it again. tyres dont rub , tryed with a mate bounching on front as i turned yesterday .. ujs seem fine. But i did grab the cv up where it goes into the diff and it seem to have a bit of movment up and downwards not much. Dont know if this is normal??

jack the front up and turn the front drive shaft. see if it goes round smooth. could be the diff missing a tooth or something

Petemcc wrote:jack the front up and turn the front drive shaft. see if it goes round smooth. could be the diff missing a tooth or something

Yea I thought of a missing tooth on the crown but why is it only skipping on a left hand turn and it should do it more often than twice in a circle, with the rolling dia of the wheels I'd expect it to happen 5-6 times in a circle each time it passes that missing tooth

Up and down movement that shouldn't be happening, was this on the piece coming directly out of the housing or on the shaft below the cv??

IF i grab it on the upper cv wher it goes into the diff, it moves there only couple mm .

there is slight lift on the inner drive shaft into the axle but i mean SLIGHT, a few mm sounds like there is something amiss in the axle. it should only move a mozzies cock.

Something's not right in there.....
That sounds like a shot bearing, still dosn't explain why its binding and releasing....
Anyway while its getting fixed it will give you a chance to have a look in the diff

ok trucks been at shop last couple of days. Pulled out both cv's and these are fine. So there pulled out the front diff and every thing was ok no damage. But what there did find was a factory diff lock and appears this could be jumping out. ITs got 6lb running into this but dont no if this is enough.. HAS ANY BODY SEEN ONE OFF THESE BEFORE ON A SUZUKI OR WOREKED ON ONE.

Has the mechanic got it all wrong and this just a vacuum operated front diff??

got any pictures? might be able to jog some memories??

Sorry no pics. MECHANICS STILL BELIEVE ITS A LOCK DIFF . but when getting it backed to work we jacked up one side put it in 4wd to see what would happen. Wheels that were off the ground both spun only, So open diffs as we thought. So get it back after three days at shop still doing the same thing.

Could it be the chain in the transfer box jumping when load comes on when on full lock but why only when turning hard left
tepuke parts world also comfired it is a open diff. it has a senser on the transfer so when 4wd is selected it goes to a air pump mounted on strut brace (mounted in behind front bumper on grand vitara) then air line goes into diff what has air bags in side what locks diff into 4wd.

bigbear wrote:Sorry no pics. MECHANICS STILL BELIEVE ITS A LOCK DIFF . but when getting it backed to work we jacked up one side put it in 4wd to see what would happen. Wheels that were off the ground both spun only, So open diffs as we thought. So get it back after three days at shop still doing the same thing.

Could it be the chain in the transfer box jumping when load comes on when on full lock but why only when turning hard left
tepuke parts world also comfired it is a open diff. it has a senser on the transfer so when 4wd is selected it goes to a air pump mounted on strut brace (mounted in behind front bumper on grand vitara) then air line goes into diff what has air bags in side what locks diff into 4wd.

Pretty sure these don't have chains in the transfers...
Can you replicate the bang with the car jacked up? if so will it do it in 2wd? will it do it with both front wheels removed from the car?

Thanks heaps for the reply i'll try this in the morning

Jacked up truck and couldnt get it make that noise. another thing i tryed was putting it into 4wd drive and getting towed while neutral in a circle while motor was off and it did it but not as much as been driven. tryed with motor running and same thing. I tryed it fast a couple off times and didnt do it. TRYING to find a place to go and have a play and see what happens but finding a place is hard.

Have you got a set of stock rims/tyres you can try on it? (beg/borrow/steal)

yep off got a spare set here but it was still doing it with these on. I found this noise a while ago but didnt bother doing any thing about it to now because am wanting to do alot more 4wding

One possibility could be if someone has blown a cv on this vehicle before and replaced it with one with a slightly worn outer spline and this spline is slipping occasionally on your drive flanges. This happened to me on my surf. Just wip those drive flanges off (where free wheeling hubs normally are) flip them around so they go on backwards and check the play. youll see if it has been slipping as there will be excessive play and the teeth will be very very flat and rounded out.

Just another option, as this happens under load.

Mike

This may be a load of crap... but I had something that sounds the same a few years back with a Skyline I had. when turning full lock clockwise it would always make a loud bang half way through the turn and was so bad I started turning to full lock then coming back a fraction every time I needed to make a u turn just to avoid the noise. I could never find the cause except that it looked like it was binding on the full lock stop post which was curved and very shiney where it was rubbing. I assumed it was a flogged steering bush or something and during a hard turn it would flex and ride up the full lock end and then loudly clang.

might be worth having a look at the steering components as well as the drivetrain.

Cheers,

Al

I would try and disconnect air line to diff. Re try and see if still happens. This will eliminate the diff lock possibility.