Got rid of my intermittent loud rumble in the front end by removing the intermediate shaft front pass. side (Was stuck engaged.)

Now I have a constant whine from the front diff that changes with speed. I'm assuming that driving while locked in 4wd wore down some gears. There is a lot of resistance on the L/F wheel, and a shudder under heavy accel that I believe is caused by this issue.

I've had it jacked up, and am 100% sure it's coming from the front diff. The front diff pinion shaft is not spinning, so I've ruled out pinion shaft and carrier bearings as the culprit.

I'm curious if anyone knows of a good write up or vid perhaps that would help me diagnose spider gear noise, or if someone could tell me if this excessive resistance seems possible from the diff?

I'll be tearing this thing apart tomorrow, and I'll try and snap some pics and make a write-up on resolving the issue, but I'm looking for some pointers and tips as to what i should be looking for. My guess is when I crack the front diff, it'll be a disaster area.

 

May be easier to just swap one from a salvage yard

 

I gutted the front diff to silence the noise and remove the resistance for now, rides nice and quiet now :-) It was a PITA to get the front diff out, so I wish I could've afforded a replacement to put back in its place but unfortunately this needed to be the cheapest fix possible, which meant removal of the spider gears and ring gear.. I left the pinion so when I go to rebuild it before Michigan's next winter, I wont have to crush a sleeve and try and get the adjustment right.

All in all, this was definitely one of the worst repairs I've had to do yet..