So, was coming home from work, decide it was time to make sure that 4wd is still working. My 94 pick up basically sat in every element for numerous months, collecting some rust (underbody and engine area), So I wasn't going to be surprised if it made any squeeking or grinding.

Going straight, nothing no noise. First turn I make, a quick little screetch, nothing to big. I pull into a parking lot, maybe going 5 mph, parking in a spot. When I am parking, it felt as if the tires were almost being locked up by the brakes. Intermitant screetchs, sounded like the tires too.

First question is, what is all this squeeking? I know things need to be relubricated, but how can a person new to trucks, learn where and what and how? I tried searching on here, but I couldn't think of terms that the search liked.

Anything that could generally help would be awesome, thanks guys!

 

nothing is wrong, but in the future, DO NOT engage your 4wd on hard pavement. there is no center diff like in an AWD vehicle so it will bind when you turn, and can break parts.

 

Hmm, I guess then I have to go to some dirt to get everything moving again?

 

yes, only on loose or slippery surfaces. If you engage 4wd on pavement do not turn or it will bind.

 

Alright cool. So is that probably what all the squeeking was?

 

What can I do about oiling everything? Because I know it could use some love.

 

for the most part, you can just change the gear oil in the front differential. synthetic is good stuff but expensive and maybe not worth it in the front end if you don't run in 4wd a lot. you could always repack the wheel bearings and CV joints but that's usually something done as they wear out, not regular maintenace.

 

Alright cool. What is involved in changing the oil in the front differential? Any how to's? Sorry, again I am a beginner trying to learn, thanks for your patience.

 

Check out the "Tech write ups" section. You will find your info there.

 

i've always thought it was ok to engage the 4wd on pavement to lube up the drive components ...as long as you are going straight.

 

it depends, even going straight, slight differences in tire diameter could cause some drivetrain bind, if you plan on doing it at least do it on wet pavement

 

just locking the hubs and driving will do a good job spinning everything in the front end around. my '79 owners manual recommends driving at least 10 miles per month with the hubs locked.

 

If I recall correctly, the owner's manual recommends driving in 4WD 1/month for about 10 miles to keep everything lubed. I habitually do that on a day when the roads are good and wet on a particular section of road that is primarily straight for those 10 miles. It worked well for over 200,000 miles on my '90...

 

That recommendation always seemed like a good excuse to go wheeling to me...but hey, whatever you like!

 

If he has locking hubs just put the transfer case in 4HI and leave the hubs unlocked. That will work the same as just locking the hubs. The problem I always had with just locking the hubs was I would forget them for a while which doesn't hurt anything except cause excess wear,but with the T/C in 4HI the little light stayed on as a reminder.

 

I put it in H4, and locked the hubs. That is how I am supposed to do it right?

 

All you really need to do is one or the other.