besides tires, brakes and bearings, the other things that rotate in both 2wd and 4wd are the axle u-joints and spider gears.

only in 4wd does front drive shaft, pinion, and ring gear turn.

check axle u-joints by grabbing ahold of the inner axle and twisting it back and forth. any clicking or clacking or play is bad.

 

well.. I connected it all the way and the bulb is still not coming on... dead bulb? or connection in the harness is bad? (corrosion or something).

Hmmmm.. might end up going to the dealer for this one. I am nervous to drive at high speeds with that noise.

 

we're talking about the connector on the end of the cad right?
and your 4wd light doesn't work - right ? (common problem)

jumper the pins in the wiring harness and it should trigger the light on the dash.
if so, then the problem is in the the contract switch it plugs into, or the connector.
first try spraying and cleaning the connector with wd40. dig out all the mud, sand, dirt, salt, rust, and crap. if it still won't work, verify the cad and collar are working right, then replace the switch for about 20 bucks or less.

beware going to the dealer. they'll rip you a new one.

 

check the driver side axle u-joint....

 

yup, checked that and it is not moving at all. When I grab the tire and move it side to side it make a loud metal on metal sound. well... loud to me. now if I do it up and down it moves but not really noticeable. Almost no movement... but very very little. I wanna say its the wheel hub/bearing.. but still not sure.

Everything else looks good on it. There is fluid in the front diff. No shavings, axle u-joint is firm, no movement, vacuums are all hookup to the CAD...hmmmm

 

this is how i do the wheel bearing test. with truck on the ground, grab the top of the tire with both hands, and pull/push with all of your might. if there is ANY movement in the bearing, or any clunk noise, then something is bad, either the bearing or the ball joints.

your side to side metal noise might just be steering play, which is not all that serious, or at least not uncommon... follow the noise and find the movement.

 

Well after driving today I put it in 4wd and the indicator light came on for it. So plugging that harness back in fixed that problem. However the noise is still there. I am still not sure. Tomorrow I am going to be tearing apart the front drivers side wheel assembly so that I can see what is going on.

Not sure what else to do.

 

Ok I have a update from this problem that I am having. I have come to a conclusion that this problem is not the wheel Hub or U-Joints. After taking a 2hr drive each way on the freeway today to goto Michigan State Univ. I noticed that the noise/vibration/grinding sound is coming from the transmission/steering column gear shift. I say this because when I was driving you hear it between 65mph and 85mph, after or before that you dont. Also when doing 70-75mph and taking the gear shift and holding it up to just before you shift it into N but still staying in D the grinding sounds goes away but there is now light vibration. If I take the gear shift and push down on it to just before shifting into 2 without going into the gear you hear the grinding noise louder. Also if i wiggle the gear shift up and down while in D when I go up it quiets down and when I go down it grinds louder.

Is there a adjustment or something for this? The transfer case was replaced before I purchased the truck. Should this be something that I should be very concerned about or not?

 

If you find out for sure please let us know I also have a 01 dodge ram 1500 and it's doing the same thing but I have not yet checked the shifter is it the transmission shifter or the transfer case shifter