Well what I once thought was fixed has reared its ugly head yet again, and its really got me puzzled. I am not sure whatsoever what this could be. The noise disipeared all spring/summer/fall and now that is is cold again 24/7 the noise came back. What usually triggers the noise is hitting a bump in the truck, or basically anything jarring. Once the grinding/growling/vibration starts and does not go away until you stop, or pull the 4x4 lever like your going to go into 4hi and back to 2hi. The noise will completely go away for good if you engage 4hi and drive like that. Wont come back either, until you go back to 2hi. So in trying to diagnose the issue I removed the front drive shaft to see if the noise went away or changed at all. Well it didnt. Still makes the same noise, under the same conditions, and goes away when you engage 4hi. Anyone ever experienced anything like this before? I have owned a small fleet of these trucks and never came across anything like this before. Any Ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

What all have you done to address the issue?

 

Well, I thought I had it solved last year when I discovered that my clutch packs came apart in my rear end. So I rebuilt the rear end and never heard the noise sense. Went all spring, summer, and fall without an issue. Then it gets cold outside again and bam there it is, same exact thing as last year. So this time I wanted to try to isolate some things so I pulled the front drive shaft. Noting changed. Issue in 2wd, drive it around in 4hi and it seems perfect, back to two and the problem comes back. It is an intermittent noise, but it happens frequently. Same noise every time though and it is not constant. Probably tomorrow night I am going to drain the T-case fluid. Is there a magnet on it by chance?

 

Magnet is internal, and you have to separate the case halves to find it.