i had no bites at the other forum, maybe there are more 4x4 guys here,ok, well my trucks been great (140,000) and now i have some serious probs. well truck drives fine in 2 wheel. like a champ. but in 4x4 low or hi, it feels like 1 side grabs then the other side. but i thought it might be diff cause its up front. i changed both hubs cause my weel bearings had play. the ball joints are fine. and the cv joints are good. its never acted like this , and by grab i mean 1 half turn on te steering wheel both ways. is it my diff?!? god i hope not. might ave to go to 4.10s if it is

 

Check you idler arm and pitman arm. If you idler is bad, sometimes you don't know til its in 4WD or you take a bumpy turn too fast.

On my 91' I did this: Jack the front up by the frame up front and lock the steering wheel. Facing the front of the wheel and tire, Push the front of the passenger side tire towards the truck (right hand) and pull the back of the tire towards you on the opposite side (left hand). Kinda jiggle it like you shaking yourself off after taking a big leak, lol. Now switch hands and try it the other way. Left push and right pull. If it moves more than an inch or so lets say, without the other wheel moving with it, its the idler. You can see it from where you'll be sitting/kneeling. Unlock the steering and see if the front wheels move before the steering wheel does. Could be tie rods, steering box, pitman, idler, etc...

I heard of steering boxes going bad but I think you would notice in 2WD.

IT IS VERY POSSIBLE YOU MAY HAVE AN ALIGNMENT ISSUE. If you do not discover any bad parts, take it in for an alignment!

Bad news is that I have no idea how an 04 is setup with the steering components. My 99 is different, yours probably is too. This will at least tell you if ANY steering components are bad.

 

jcbst12is on the right track. Check that pitman arm ball joints and the idler arm joints. If you take it in an alignment shop they should tell you what ball joints are goin bad. I got lucky on my pitman arm. The ball joint broke off and luckily i was just leaving my parking spot.

 

well i checked my ball joints and they are good, ill get my truck on the lift today and check the steering components. ive taken her through some rockys before so its takin a beating. im throwing my bet on the pitman arms, ill probably just do the pitman arms and idler arm and hope its not the box

 

If it is the steering box it can be adjusted a bit tighter. If it comes to that I can explain how to do it. The same thing happened to my truck and I had all the front steering components replaced, it was like night and day.

 

idler arm and both pitman arms are good. close to no play in steering. and now im getting a hum around 60-70. so since the hubs and bearings are good, steering is good, ball joints are good, axles and cv jionts are good. so i guess that just ****ing leaves the pumpkin...

 

Get the alignment checked/done. Hum us usually from you tires being feathered. This is due to bad alignment or worn parts (like shocks). Unbolt a shock absorber or two and make sure they aren't leaking and that they havent seized up on you. If they are ok, then go get the alignment checked.

Also, check the fluid and condition of the fluid in the pumpkin. If its low it will make noise too. Make sure its not extremely dirty either. I doubt that is your problem but you never know!