truck making a grinding noise when turning left over 30 mph

[glowplug]

soo here i am again dumping more money into the truck that i love. this started about 3 days ago i was driving and i was turning left and i heard a loud bang from the front end then that was it so i was like ok maby something flew up under neath the truck. then about 10 min later i made another left turn over 30 mpg and i heard the bang again but this time there was a grinding noise kinda like trying to shift a stick but grinding the gears. and when this happens the truck would start to slow down a bit but then it would stop when i strighten the wheel and everything would be fine. the truck is 4x4 im kinda thinking the cv's? any oppinions help gota pull a trailer 400 miles saturday kinda wana fix it before i go

[Bootzee612]

i'm not sure if the front U-joints are classified as cv joints on a solid front axle, it could possible be one, I would start with checking the wheel bearings first, then front u-joints, and possibly the front dif? Its hard to try to diagnose something without actually experiencing or seeing it.

[mkwelds]

Yea it sounds like the axle u joint went out. Just look at it if its the original one and any grease is coming out if the cap area then its time for some new ones.

[nickg]

I would not drive it until you have checked it over, I definitely would not haul a trailer 400miles, just imagine the grief your gonna have if something lets go in the front end!

I'm going to bet its a axel u-joint that has failed

[papaduck]

It sounds like a u-joint that has completly failed in the axel. You should easely see the bad joint. If you can not see the bad joint then jack up the front end and with the steering turned to the left or rignt, rotate the wheel and you can feel it if it is the u-joint or the unit bearing. The bad u-joint will get easy then hard to turn as the wheel is rotated.

[superman279]

I had the exact same thing, noise and all. I did buy new spicer's and replaced the front left (haven't done the right yet). I then proceeded with my move back to Michigan from California (got out of the Marines) and at the end of the first day my front left wheel hub went out. I was stuck in Salina, Utah for 3 days and had one overnighted to the hotel. I know some forum members live in Salina, i'm sorry. Moral of the story, when the u-joint is causing this sort of problem, it will do TONS of wear to the wheel hub! So replace the u-joint as this is most likely the problem and triple check the wheel hub.

EDIT: I noticed the u-joint was bad because the rubber seal had dropped on one side about a 1/4 inch.

[bradbodigon]

If you hear the noise when you turn left, most likely the passenger side u-joint or hub is bad because the eight of the vehicle is shifting that way and causing it to be noticeable