Front Wheel Spinning Resistance (4x4)

[Hakka]

Hi folks,
while I was replacing the shocks on my truck I noticed there was, what seemed to me, too much resistance in the turning of my front wheels. I guess you could say I am a bit new to the 4x4 truck world but I would think the front wheels should spin quite freely when unlocked, no? My mileage is poor at 16-17 with the ka24e and 4x4 set up but figured it was not horrible when looking at other people's numbers. My foot is light and I time everything in driving style.

Where would be a good place to start looking for problems?
Caliper dragging? The brakes do not pull either way and the truck tracts wonderfully.
I have only had the truck a touch over a year and I have no idea what the history is on the factory hubs.
Grease them? They have seen a pretty good amount of use locked(from what I hear that sort lubes them...)

Thoughts?

[dvdswan]

pull off the hub/rotor assm and insect you inner and outer bearings for heat damage, pitting any signs of wear, if found replace bearing and race together, repack bearings and reassemble. there will be some resistance for a wheel to spin but its not going to go around a bunch of times.

for proper torque specs, download the FSM for your year of truck.

[EstoMax]

i was recently diagnosing a similar problem on my truck and it ended up being a stuck rear e-brake cable pulley on one of my rear brakes. My fronts also don't spin super easily (only a quarter to half a turn after i let go spinning by hand) but after resetting the brake calipers they spin quite freely. It seems that the brake pads just sit really snug on the rotors when you press them while parking and probably don't back away until you start driving it again. That was my conclusion anyway.

Marko

[Saudade]

Well, I don't see the year of your truck but the EPA estimates mileage at 17mpg combined. Why do you say it's poor?