I have no idea how the cv axles in these trucks are mad. All I have ever owned is solid axles so this is new to me. I have replaced all 4 tie rod ends, all 4 ball joints aswell. I have this noise sounds like a bad tie rod coming from under my foot. I finally narrowed it to the cv axle.

Heres my problem, I engage in 4x4 and I can feel it lock in and when I move I feel all the wheels pull however when I try to put on ebrake and move the only thing that moves is the rear tires. No noise from the front. I jacked the driver side up and put it in 4lo and I can turn the wheel by hand in park. I am not sure if its suppose to move or not.


how can I test the cv axles and figure out the problem? I am currently fixing to replace the valve body due to the dreaded 1-2 hard shift. Will the valve body affect the 4x4?

HELP!!

 

Your 4wd problem is likely caused by the front axle actuator not engaging the front diff properly. The setup of these axles requires the front axle be engaged. The actuator is vacuum powered so if you did your testing with the engine off, you would always get the same result.

As far as your noise, there are a few other possibilities... A loose upper or lower shock mounting bolt could cause a similar rattle. After I replaced the shocks on my old 2000 Bravada, I tightened the mounting bolts to what I felt was an appropriate torque. They rattled like crazy and I replaced a lot of other parts trying to find it. Ball joints were on their way out so they were the first thing to be changed. Did the TSB fix for the rattling hood hinges which further quieted things down. Finally I was left with grabbing a hold of all of the suspension components and giving them a pull. Came to find out that there was play in the upper shock mount. Tightened the mounting bolt up more and it was silent once again.

As mentioned, the hood hinge bolts can give a similar noise. There are conical washers available from the dealer that put added tension on the hinge joint to cure this problem.

CV axles typically start to leak, then fail so I highly doubt that you have any problem with the CV axles themselves.

 

Your right I did check it with the engine off. When the truck is running it locks in I hear it lock in, I can feel the front end pulling until I strain it and then its like I am in 2 wheel drive. Where should I start? My cv axles are not leaking at all, they look good.

 

If there are no noises associated, then I doubt you are really getting power to the front axle. The engagement of the front axle both in the front axle and in the transfer case is performed with gears. They do not just slip out without an associated noise...

 

First thing I would like to say is I should have searched before posting this.


I found 1 busted vaccum line going to the T at the firewall coming from the motor and the actuator was bad. Thanks for all the help.

 

I created a How-to to fix your actuator problem. Here is the link. It only cost me $25 and now I have a posi-locking system for my front end that works great.

http://diamond.site90.com/html/actuator.html