Nasty grrrr noise

[Robbo]

Ok one for the Doctors out there !

Driving along at about 30 on tarmac, when a vary nasty grrr noise came from the front end.  I felt it through the steering wheel, on slowing with braking it felt much worse and made a louder noise, the last few feet inparticular.
It then cleared it self and a few hundred yards later it did it again. Then cleared again and remained smooth and quiet until home about 1.5 miles through town.

Daisy was born in 1975 is 2.25 petrol swb, and mostly original I beleive....

Any thoughts?

Cheers already Robbo

[Canada Al]

tell us about the front end . Free wheel hubs ? recent rebuild ? off road recently . have you jacked it up and moved the wheels , any bearing play ? any noise when revolving ? does the prop turn smoothy ? .....Al

[Robbo]

only soft off road - lanes etc.
Free wheel hubs - engaged.
750 r16 Mt's on disco wheels.
Not fiddled with wheels yet!

[mark.yellow.series.3]

front diff given up??

[Robbo]

don't know, I'm new at this so any clues greatly received!....would the front brakes be able to sound like this? is it possible to throw a brake shoe? or something of that kind?...hopefully will get a chance over the wk end to remove the wheels and have a looksee....

[hobbit]

Sounds like a jack up job and spin the wheels, then off with the drums and have a good look round, hubs, but also prop, diff etc while its up

[Neil Jones]

I take it 4wd isn't engaged.  Mine sounds a bit like that if I forget to disengage for whatever reason, just gets a bit tied up.  Probably do need a replacement, but off road shes fine, then on road just disengage.  Try disengaging the hubs and check 4wd is not selected.

[muddyweb]

My money is on a wheel bearing, then maybe the diff.

As mentioned, jack up the front end and have a feel around... you're looking for anything that feels graunchy / noisy

[Canada Al]

The first thing you have to do is diagnose the problem . there are lots of things this could be . we are all guessing because we can't see the thing .

Jack it up . one wheel at a time . this will find if the noise is from left or right wheel . if its both then its probably not at the wheel but in the diff or further up the line . if the noise is from one side but not the other then that is the side to look at .
 If the problem is a wheel bearing  , they tend to go quiet under breaking cos the shoes hold the wheel in line , this is an easy problem to fix and to diagnose . Wobble the wheel when its in the air , grab the wheel top and bottom and try to find any play . you should find a tiny bit ( and i mean tiny ) if there is lots of play then that would indicate bearing wear or even collapse .
check the joints on the prop for wear , grasp them firmly and try to find any play , there should be no play in the joints .
If you dissengage the hubs and spin the prop manually all the way round and back a few times , you are only turning one shaft in the gear box ,the prop and the diff . if the noise is here its probably diff trouble . if you have some ep90 you can drain the diff oil . It will probably be like grey metalic paint . this is normal for an older land rover , but if you find any teeth or larger pieces of metal then this is your likely couse . If you think the noise comes from the diff but have found no bits then I would take the diff out . You can do this without dismanteling the front hubs and I can tell you how if you need that info . DO NOT forget to refill the diff once you have eliminated it !
Let us know what you find   .....Al

[grunty]

Could it be somthing simple like a stone jammed in the pads or similair?
Al

[Robbo]

...and so...took it out for a very short run - I know silly but hey, now need to pump brakes to get anything noticable, I will take wheels off front end to have a looksee.
Currently I have only a bottle jack but no axle stands - I'll be carefull!!! I promise to put chocks behind back wheels. :D