EvilMonkeyMike
New member
Oh where to begin...
Bought a 93 V-6 Auto 4x4 back in July. It was a little rough and needed a few things here and there, but it's my work truck so I figured what the heck.
First things first. I have replaced both front CV shafts, bearings on both sides, brakes and rotors in the front. Also, I took the Transfer Case Pan off and resealed it with red RTV (it was leaking like crazy.) After I did all the front end work, I noticed it began pulling slightly to the right while I was braking. I attributed this to a bad caliper I noticed while I was doing the work. Haven't replaced the calipers yet but the new ones are sitting on my toolbox.
So, the other day we finally got snow (never thought I'd actually WISH for snow) so I took the runner out to run some errands. Our edition was pretty slick, so I dropped it into 4 HIGH.
Upon doing this, I noticed the truck started driving very erratically. It would intermittenly pull to the right, then go straight, then pull right again, all around 15 mph.
I thought this was weird, not normal, and not too safe. I stopped the truck, dropped into neutral, and shifted back to 2 HIGH. The problem went away. I drove out, did my errands, and came home. Before pulling into the driveway, I put the truck back into 4 HIGH on a stretch of dry pavement. When I put it in Drive, it would go about 5 feet and "bind."
The truck seems like the rear end is pushing the front end down, almost like there's a drag or something on the front wheels. It will continue to do this until one tire breaks loose, spins up, and then it will go another 5 feet.
The only things I have been able to come up with so far:
I tested the 4 wheel drive when I bought the truck, but I did it on gravel so it may have been slipping without me knowing it. I didn't go very fast when I tested it so maybe I missed the binding.
The transfer case was rebuilt at some point, I could tell when I took the pan gasket off. Is it possible someone put a wrong ratioed gear into the T-case?
Another possibility. Is it possible somebody swapped a differential to another ratio that isn't matching the other? So now, in 4 wheel drive, the axles are fighting each other?
I really hope someone out there can give me a better option than these two. Other than that, I have no idea what I might've done other than bend or seize something during the course of changing the CV shafts. I would think if I did something like that the truck wouldn't drive right in 2 wheel drive, but I'm not too familiar with this type of 4x4 (it has an ADD lock to disconnect the left driveshaft in the front in 2 wheel drive.) Maybe my lack of familiarity with this system is causing me to overlook something relatively obvious.
Diagnostically, other than looking under the front end for any obvious damage, I don't even know where to start. If possible, I'd like to avoid having to suck it up, admit defeat, and take this thing to my local mechanic. Not looking forward to that prospect:-(
Please help! Thanks in advance!
Bought a 93 V-6 Auto 4x4 back in July. It was a little rough and needed a few things here and there, but it's my work truck so I figured what the heck.
First things first. I have replaced both front CV shafts, bearings on both sides, brakes and rotors in the front. Also, I took the Transfer Case Pan off and resealed it with red RTV (it was leaking like crazy.) After I did all the front end work, I noticed it began pulling slightly to the right while I was braking. I attributed this to a bad caliper I noticed while I was doing the work. Haven't replaced the calipers yet but the new ones are sitting on my toolbox.
So, the other day we finally got snow (never thought I'd actually WISH for snow) so I took the runner out to run some errands. Our edition was pretty slick, so I dropped it into 4 HIGH.
Upon doing this, I noticed the truck started driving very erratically. It would intermittenly pull to the right, then go straight, then pull right again, all around 15 mph.
I thought this was weird, not normal, and not too safe. I stopped the truck, dropped into neutral, and shifted back to 2 HIGH. The problem went away. I drove out, did my errands, and came home. Before pulling into the driveway, I put the truck back into 4 HIGH on a stretch of dry pavement. When I put it in Drive, it would go about 5 feet and "bind."
The truck seems like the rear end is pushing the front end down, almost like there's a drag or something on the front wheels. It will continue to do this until one tire breaks loose, spins up, and then it will go another 5 feet.
The only things I have been able to come up with so far:
I tested the 4 wheel drive when I bought the truck, but I did it on gravel so it may have been slipping without me knowing it. I didn't go very fast when I tested it so maybe I missed the binding.
The transfer case was rebuilt at some point, I could tell when I took the pan gasket off. Is it possible someone put a wrong ratioed gear into the T-case?
Another possibility. Is it possible somebody swapped a differential to another ratio that isn't matching the other? So now, in 4 wheel drive, the axles are fighting each other?
I really hope someone out there can give me a better option than these two. Other than that, I have no idea what I might've done other than bend or seize something during the course of changing the CV shafts. I would think if I did something like that the truck wouldn't drive right in 2 wheel drive, but I'm not too familiar with this type of 4x4 (it has an ADD lock to disconnect the left driveshaft in the front in 2 wheel drive.) Maybe my lack of familiarity with this system is causing me to overlook something relatively obvious.
Diagnostically, other than looking under the front end for any obvious damage, I don't even know where to start. If possible, I'd like to avoid having to suck it up, admit defeat, and take this thing to my local mechanic. Not looking forward to that prospect:-(
Please help! Thanks in advance!
It sounds like someone did half the upgrade for you. For your truck to be doing that in such a short distance then the diff ratios are dramatically different. Maybe the p/o swapped the front or rear diff not knowing about different gears. Either way, keep whichever is higher and re-gear the other to match. Having a higher gear ratio helps out quite a bit if you end up with a bigger size tire.
