Well my wife's 98 Blazer was having issues going in and out of 4 wheel drive last week when we got a lot of snow. On Friday she went to take it out and it wouldn't turn left, very draggy, so she pulled into garage. We crawled underneath and driver CV axle was toast, torn boots no grease, generally looked like hell, so we start ripping it out, get it out, replace lower ball joint, put back together and wheel wouldn't turn (we never set it down) so I crawl back under and poke around further and see the differential wing mount to the driver side wheel well is split, cracked about an inch and moved about a 1/4 inch towards rear of vehicle. I am assuming this is the real problem, but am afraid that the rear might be toast as well. it Looks alright, but I really don't know what would have cracked it like this. it has fluid and wasn't leaking. I will post a picture or two in a few. Thanks for any suggestions, I think I am going to go t o the srap yard and pull one in the morning.

 

Be careful getting a new one to make sure you get the right gear ratio to match your rear axle. The most common gears in the blazers are the 3.42 and 3.73.

 

One word: aluminum. Good call GM.

 

Well, I still don't think I'm that strong, but I am starting to think that maybe I did this with my own two hands and dumb @$$ not checking parts from Autozone....put in new axle, part number 9457 (for the ZR2 High Wide) and not 9445N for normal...difference looks like it is almost 2 inches and I cranked that thing on good...god damn it....anyone think me and the Axle are that strong, or was it already screwed and I just exposed it?

 

Did you drive it with the wrong axle installed?

 

No I did not drive it. I have not even put it back on the ground since I started this project.

 

Well it looks like a fresh break since it doesn't have any dirt or oil on it so I'm going to say yeah you did that when puting the axle in. Like Tho said its just aluminum so its very possible that you broke it unfortunaltly.

 

Well it will give me opportunity to change the other ball joints ....I hate drilling them out but it is time, and will throw in new bushings all around to make my wife happy (who is pissed that I broke her car). Unfortunately I haven't been able to convince her on a lift while we are tearing all this stuff out.
Replace a broken front wheel stud, tie rods, - are there any other "while you are in there type of things?" that I should take care of at this time. I don't like repeating jobs.

 

Of course this all happens the week I ordered the aftermarket spider to replace the one I rebuilt last year. Figures.

 

I was warned a few years ago that you have to be careful when going from 2wd to 4 hi. That the Blazers are known to crack housings. A friend of mine who is a mechanic saw it several times over the years on City vehicles. So if you did it or it happened when it was shifted into 4wd is a guess. I used 4wd on my 97 Blazer a lot. But I would come almost to a stop to engage it into 4wd hi just because of the warning.
Just my two cents worth.