Arpin

So this problem has been going on for awhile and slowly gotten worse. It started out as just an annoying squeeling like noise coming from my front end. So I decided to change the fluid in my front differential. After driving it for awhile the noise went away and I was thinking I had the problem solved. Winter came around and this year we got more than our fair share of snow and eventually my truck got stuck. It took every ounce of power my 4X4 had to get out. But my front passenger side tire wasnt getting any power and I could hear a clunking sound. A few days later I had to drive about 45 miles and about half way there I start feeling vibrations. The engine still sounded and ran fine, and I knew all my tires were good. So I have came to the conclusion to change or fix my front differential. But Iv never had a 4X4 before and dont know anything about it really. My trucks a 2000 GMC Sierra with the 5.3 vortec. Any ideas on what exactly my problem is? And where can I find parts and information on how to do the work? Sorry for the long story!! Any help is appreciated!

Neil 6.0

Could be a bad CV shaft. Check the rubber boots for tears and jerk the shafts around to see if they are worn out or dry.

Replacement is similar to this:
http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/sho...d.php?p=206476
*Not sure if the socket sizes are the same for 1500's.

FWIW, the front passenger tire doesn't really spin all that much, most of the power goes to the driver side.

Another common problem is the seals/bearings going bad on the ends of the axle. Looks for leaks around the axle where it bolts to the CV shaft. They are kind of a pain to fix unless you have done a few and know what you are doing. You have to take apart the whole differential/axle.

If something is broke in the differential, you would probably be better off just swapping out the whole unit completely with a reman/rebuilt unit.

Hope this helps some.