Check the front driveshaft for play - it should be minimal to none at the slip joint (too much play will cause the splines to eventually self-destruct,) and there should be NO noticeable play between the halves of the various driveshaft yokes - check for EACH cross! Grab one side of the yoke in one hand, the other side in the other, and twist in opposite directions.
Jack up the front end, and turn the front driveshaft (you might have to pull the shift collar into 4WD, if you have a disconnect axle) and watch the wheels. They should turn immediately - you can reverse the process by turning the wheel and checking for play within the u-joint yoke just behind the wheel.
You might also want to pull the wheels off up front, and check the calipers. Check for roughly even wear of the pads - both from end-to-end on each pad, and the two pads should have about the same material on each wheel. Also, the wear from wheel-to-wheel should be similar.
If one inner pad is worn more than the other, then the caliper is probably not "sliding" (it's supposed to) and it will need to be removed and the sliding surfaces cleaned and graphited.
Why graphite? Most greases are wet, and wet stuff near dust sources tends to collect dust, which either becomes abrasive (bad) or craps everything up (also bad.) I don't use anything but dry graphite on brakes anymore - both on the caliper pins and the sliding surfaces on the caliper and the mounting bracket.
You can check the rotors for runout if you have a dial indicator and a magnetic base - or know someone who does. You just fix the magnetic base to some solid part of the vehicle, put the probe on the rotor surface, and spin the rotor. Watch the dial gage - max acceptable runout is .005" overall - check both sides, if you have access to a dial gage.
If you notice anything else odd that I didn't mention, let us know so we can tell you what's going on.
5-90
