I had a squealing sound that I thought was mud and/or rocks stuck in the brakes... so instead of going wheelin today... I took it apart, cleaned & inspected... only to find the drivers side unit bearing (front axle) has a "huge" amount of play in it, has lost its lubrication and is pretty much shot.
I'm not sure how dangerous it is to drive around with a unit bearing in that kind of shape... but man am I glad I decided not to go wheelin.
What did I learn?
1) When ya start with a 190,000km Jeep, rebuilt the axles and put bigger tires on it... while your in there... replace the unit bearings with new ones ($400)
2) A "quick and dirty" way of checking unit bearings without jacking your Jeep up is ... start in the back (even though there are no unit bearings back there on a stocker) it will give you a frame of reference. Push & pull hard sideways on the top of the tire and feel for play (none in my case) other side on the back was the same... no play, passenger front I could feel a bit of play in the unit bearing, drivers side front... Whoa... bingo... HUGE play.
3) If you have a sound you think is mud/rocks related... dont assume... check it out.
I would suspect the bit of front end shimmy/wobble I have at 80 & 110km/hr will go away with new unit bearings
Just thought I'd share