4WD Problems?

[hex0rz]

Hey guys, I'm trying to figure out my 4wd problem. This is the first truck I've had with 4wd. So I do not know very much about it. I have opened up the front end before to do seals and whatnot as well as the brakes. I did this back in Sept. I've had a recent transmission rebuild done as well.I have used the 4wd multiple times before and after my tranny rebuild and a few times before I opened up the front. I have also done fluids on everything as well.I took a trip from Sandpoint down to Spokane on Fri. The whole way there I had to have it in 4wd. It functioned without a problem. Tonight though, I drove from Spokane to CDA which is about 30 miles. I had it in 2wd. Once I entered the Post falls area, I had to put it into 4wd as the snow was very heavy.I noticed, it went into 4wd just fine. The light came on. But traveling, this was also straight to slight curves, I noticed something funny. When I got to CDA, I took the turns through town to get to the fueling station. I was next to a parking lot, so I drove around trying to play around with it.Going straight in 4wd, I could not tell what the noise was, but there was something. When I went to make some somewhat sharp turns, I could hear very distinct sound of something clicking or ticking. Some sort of bind?I fueled up and hit the road to come home. I left it in 4wd the whole way home, an it still worked. I did not hear any noises either. I DEFINITELY needed it from CDA back to Sandpoint! The snow and roads were so bad, I could not see no more than 30ft in front of me.So when I finally reached Sandpoint, I pulled into a lot to see if my 4wd was still acting up. I pulled turns at full lock and all I had was the hop from the tires. I did not have any noises.I don't get what was going on? Is my 4wd ok? I was at first thinking u-joints bound up somewhere. But it should have made the noise when I got home too, right? Or, another theory I had was that the fluids were so cold, something was slipping?Anyone have any ideas? I need to get it adressed ASAP as 4wd is my friend!

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

you may have a ujoint failing/drying up/broken. on my 1500I had this happen to me but couldnt get to it in time due to finances. It started as light tap when in 2wd as the cups were dry and letting the shaft flop. eventually i replaced it and found one of the cups was broken from not being replaced.On my 2500I had the passenger side start to get dry and i could feel it in the steering when in 2wd and turning, it would actually work against the steering wheel. It would clunk and such, then i replaced it before it broke the cups.Or you could have a failing double cardan joint (the wierd looking ujoint on the front drive shaft).If it is this, you will have to either rebuild it if not trashed or replace it if trashed.going straight the ujoints wont make much noise in the beginning but when you start to turn they will complain when dry/worn/failed. when they fail you will break sh!t and that will get expensive.Roll your windows down and going slowly in 4wd listen to which side is complaining then inspect it to see how much life left before total failure. Good rule of thumb replace both if you can as the other will soon follow. Get SPICER ujoints, i run them and do some heavy offroading/rockcrawling and have no problem. Dont get the ones with a grease nipple as they are weaker, but they are good if you only do light offroading and such.To replace them, you have to take the wheel off, brake caliper off, manage to get the carrier hub off then replacing the actual joint is easy. Total time with experienced person with all the tools, about 2-4 hours for both depending on how siezed the hubs are to the carriers. I did the passenger side on my 2500 in about an hour the drivers side took 5 hours as the hub was locked in there bad. there are write ups on how to change the ujoints all over the web, ill try to find one here.you will need to purchase a 3/4" breaker bar with a 1-11/16" socket for the hub castle nut. Im #300 and with a 5' cheater bar bouncing on it, it finally came loose.

[hex0rz]

Any idea as to why the noise would go away after driving it? How do I check to see if u-joints are bad?I have dis-assembled the front end before, so the parts will be cakework to remove as I had put anti-seize on. I also bought a socket for the hub nut. A whopping $30 from NAPA!Mechanic told me back in August that my front u-joint was going bad. Not sure which one he was talknig about though. He was fiddling with the front driveshaft when he said this.

[War Eagle]

I also think it might be related to the u-joints on the front end drive shafts. Particularly if you felt the grabbing was in the steering or front end.But if for instance you had a limited slip rear end and you were turning on some patches of dry pavement and snowy pavement you might get a bit of noise coming from the rear end because one wheel was trying to turn faster than the other and one would be grabbing more on the dry pavement while the other was slipping on the snowy stuff. If all wheels were on the snowy stuff all the time then the wheels would just slip when turning corners rather than grabbing and slipping as they get traction then loose traction. Hope I am explaining this well enough to make sense?If you recently changed fluid in the rear end and it had a limited slip in it you would need to add a limited slip additive or you would experience a grabbing and maybe clicking noise.

[hex0rz]

The rear end is not a LSD. When I was driving in 4wd, I was on the highway and also in 2 parking lots to test it.The first lot I went to before I fueled up, was all snowed in as it was snowing hard and had a few inches on the ground. Even virgin snow!The second lot was the same MO. But this time around it had not made any noises.I just went to another lot by my house and tried the 4wd out. I went in 4hi and lo and did full lock left and right. I also did straight. Never made a single noise and functioned flawlessly.Maybe it was just a fluke?

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

could be?