Hello, I Just purchased a 2005 2 Door blazer. When we took it for a test drive it worked great in both 2hi and 4hi but after a 2 hour drive we were slowing down on the off ramp and a loud grinding noise started coming from the front passenger side (sounded like a tire rubbing on a wheel well) When we slowed down so did the noise. My relative is a retired mechanic so he pressed 2 hi again and backed up and it seemed to work fine again until i slowed down to pull into my driveway it started again like a big rig gearing down and stops when i cut the tires. What could this be? I am kind of upset because i just bought it. Only has 70 000 miles. Thanks

 

lift the wheel and check for wheel bearing play

 

Just to clarify...does the noise come when you are in 4WD? Wasn't sure what you meant by your relative pushing 2HI again. Were you in 4WD at the time?

 

No, I was not in 4wd at that time but I think the front axle is not disengaging even though its in 2wd because I had it in 4hi a while before that.

EDIT: Heres a video of exactly what mine sounds like except mine does it at a lower speed. (the video is not my truck)

(mostly last half of video.)

 

does the noise come and go with weight transfer to that wheel ?
Is your ABS light on ?

 

No lights on that I noticed, I'm not sure about the weight on the wheel, it was mostly when slowing down and it continued when i pull away but randomly. Sometimes it won't make a sound. Now that i think about it, while on the highway it was making a noticeable metal scraping/rubbing nose at certain speeds. not a grinding though.


Also, If it matters there was alot of snow and slush on the roads and windy.

I will be trying to diagnose the problem tomorrow or Wednesday hopefully.

 

That's fairly common, and usually is pretty easy to fix by replacing the vacuum switch on top of the transfer case. If that's the case, don't let it go too long like that. Over time, things can happen like this: .....or this.

 

As stated, this is a some what common problem. So much so that I created THIS THREAD discussing the topic. That thread, and many more like it can be found in the often over looked Tech Article (DIY) section.

 

Awesome, Thanks!

UPDATE: Today I took the battery out and removed the vacuum actuator part out from below it and it turns out that it is leaking so it wont hold its vacuum. I am going to get a new one tomorrow and go from there.