Hey guys, I know there is information on here about problems with 4wheel drive I can find it when I google search. Now that I'm on the site I can't seem to find anything..I say that to say sorry about starting a new thread...

I have a problem with my 4wheel drive and before I started throwing parts at it I wanted some others input and thoughts. It's a lengthy post but I want to list what I have tried and give the background on what's wrong.

All works great until you need it and it doesn't. Tonight I went to put the truck in 4x4 and only the rear wheels would spin. Lights come on like normal no faults are issues with the display. I can hear the click/clank when the transfer case locks in. I have auto / manual hubs and tried it both ways. I think I've narrowed it to front Dif or left front hub.
With truck lifted off ground I put it in 4x4, put in drive and front tires don't turn on the rear do. Front drive shaft however does spin as does the rear.
Manually locked hubs - no change
Lowered truck put it in 2wd unlocked hubs and front drive shaft spins freely as it should when I turn it.
I left it in 2wd and locked both hubs - When I spin the drive shaft the left front hub/ujoint continues to spin ( which tells me that wheel isn't locking) The right side doesn't spin.

I guess my main question is with the truck lifted off ground in 4wd with both hubs locked should the right tire spin since it appears to be locked even though the left side won't lock? Or since left hub isn't locking is all my power going to that side since it's spinning free and that's not allowing my right side to spin. I know the basics of how a differential works but don't know in dept when it comes to trouble shooting.

Aside from replacing driver side hub is there something else I can do to verf there isn't anything wrong with the front diff?

Thank you,

 

Sounds like you're on the right track. Pull that hub apart clean and inspect. Easy job don't even have to jack it up. Cost a gasket or some sealer to look it over.

 

Thank you, I was leaning to that wasn’t sure if I should pull the diff cover just to look around and see if something looked out of place. Just didn’t want to drain it and deal with sealing it back if I didn’t need too.

 

From what I understand you do in fact need to have both hubs locked to get any front wheel drive action so yes if one side isn’t locking then you won’t get any drive to either front wheel.

Since it doesn’t work in “lock” mode it must be piled up in there. Might as well pull it apart and see what you see.

 

Thanks,

I’ll pull it apart tomorrow even and let you guys know what I find.

 

OP, if you can live with after market manual hubs, go that route. Sooner or later the oem hubs or vacuum seal will fail and leave you stranded when you really need to use four wheel drive. I installed Warn hubs years ago on my 2017 and really glad I did.

 

What a mess, but I think I found my issue. Now just need advice on how to fix it. Looking hub was severely damaged/ broken and now part of it is stuck on the axel and I’ve tried everything but dynamite! Any ideas on how to remove this?


This is the piece I’ve got to somehow remove..??

 

Another reason to NOT go back to stock hubs.

 

Put some heat on it.