So I bought this 03 Bravada the other day for fairly cheap. It does have ALOT of miles on it 216,000 or something. During the drive home (which is about an hr and a half) there was like grinding and binding noise coming from the front drive side tire. Like the cv shaft and tie rod was have a sword fight. It was the loudest and roughest taking off from a dead stop. Then it would smooth out eventually as u got up to speed. Now I do know that the last owner had recently put on new tires on the front. Not sure if that has anything to do with it. Someone had told me too pull the fuse for the AWD, that way it’s not engaging. But someone else told me to pull the front drive shaft out. But I read that pulling the drive shaft will only result in a burned up transfer case. Which brings me to the burnt smell coming from underneath the vehicle. My guess would be the transmission or transfer case. When I smelled it I immediately pulled into a parking lot and let the vehicle cool down. Any ideas or suggestions on what is happening is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time……

 

Are you sure it's not a stuck brake caliper? If your brake caliper is seized it could be causing the binding feeling in one corner of the vehicle, as well as the hot/burning smell.

You mention the tires being replaced. Are all 4 the same size and tread? This is very important on an AWD vehicle. If your Bravada is an always-on AWD then it's required that all 4 tires are the same size.

If it's 4wd related, it wouldn't really cause any binding going in a straight line; only when you're turning.

I'm probably not the best person here to help you troubleshoot the issue, but we're pretty good at working as a community to help people.