Hello everyone.

First post to the site. Did a massive search and found a bunch of possible solutions but none pertaining to my exact problem. I have a 99 Ram 1500 5.9L 4x4.

first off in 2wd no problems at all. no noises.. everything is well.

4x4 works. It will engage into 4H and 4L. However, in 4x4 L or H it makes a "clicking" sound going in forward or reverse.

Here is a clip of the sound. Sorry about the video, my camera decided to take a **** and it now only records sound :P
Weird Sound

UPDATE: So i took the front driveshaft off the truck to check the double cardan joint on there and decided to try the truck without the front DS in there at all. Still makes the sound.

So that obviously takes the driveshaft out of the question.

Anyone have any other suggestions i can try ? It sounds like its coming from the t- case as opposed to it being in the front axle.

Any suggestions or ideas as to what this is would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
-Canusa

 

I wanna say its a universal joint. Go around and check to see if there's any movement in any of them.

 

yea, if its only clicking in 4wd...that would suggest it being the front driveshaft u-joints. at least, thats what i would imagine would be the problem.

 

i checked them all and the only ones i'm not sure of are the 2 that are back to back right at the transfer case. The whole shaft moves in all directions there but i can't isolate the u joints. They seem to be tight.

 

how much does it move?

 

i couldn't get the sound to work, but - clicking is usually a u-joint
and since it only does it in 4wd, then its in the front drive shaft,
not axle shafts, because they turn all the time.

there's a funky double cardan in the middle of the drive shaft.
i've got no firsthand experience, but here's a rebuild diy.
some people advise buying a rebuilt unit.
http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/doublecardan.php

 

It moves quite a bit. More than i had expected it to, but then again, i have never seen that double cardan kind of joint before. Thanks for the link to the DIY. I think i'm going to actually take the DS out and have a look at that double cardan. I think that ball/socket might be my culprit. I'll try that and let you all know what happens.

Thanks guys,
-Canusa

 

Updated at top of thread.

 

If you removed the front DS and it still does it when in 4wd only, then you know what the prob is, TC. Could be the chain or maybe the clip in the tail shaft, either way it's a TC problem.