this is gonna be long:

it's felt like i had some backlash issues lately. while backing out of my gf's driveway something ground/binded/maybe popped and then the truck stopped, wouldn't back up anymore.

put it in drive, it went forward. backed it up again, went to the same spot, then stopped. put it in drive and hit the gas, it lunged a little then stopped. same in reverse now. first thought was ring gear gave out and the pinion was just rotating on the dead spot...f*ck!!!

given that I thought I had baclkash problems, i'd figured i'd put it in 4wd if the rear ever gave out. its 1AM on a sunday, no chance of any help. so i put it in 4wd and just hope to limp it home with the front pulling, and the rear tearing itself to shreds. imagine my surprise when IT STILL DIDN'T MOVE. no difference at all.

throw it back in 2wd, still nothing. have gf come out, tell her to hit the gas a little while i take a look under to see if the driveshaft is spinning. she hit it harder than i expected, but whatever she did, im glad she did it. something popped and the truck took off forward (i think it came from the rear, but can't be sure cuz i was busy getting out of the way), man was i glad i wasn't under it and was just leaning next to it.

so now...nothing's wrong i drove it home 20+miles, almost lke nothing happened. took it easy and didn't go over 60 on the highway. only thing different was i felt something bind a little at one stop, but that was it, might even have been my imagination. no dead spots, no crazy sounds, didn't need 4wd, didn't lose power at any point.

i'm thinking diff, but not moving in 4wd is throwing me off. i thought the transfer case was solid front/back, so it still should have moved, am i wrong? so maybe the transfer case is giving out?
maybe the rear has a couple teeth from a spider sitting in the bottom now?

i'll take the cover off the diff tomorrow i guess, when it's f*****g 30 degrees outside. how hard is it to change spiders? possible DIY, or am i gonna have to bend over for the dealer?

any other ideas guys? this sucks, this is my only transportation, and it's sitting on a bomb (please, no jokes about the bomb comment and me being brown , it would just be bad timing)

 

I have no idea how to help.... I just hope you are able to get it resolved easily and cheaply!

joe

 

Very weird... Sounds like its really binding up. Do you have the same size tires front and rear? (I know, stupid question but I know people that don't)

 

can only offer you good luck that is a real good puzzle I would have to think it is in the trans. if puting it in 4wd did not make a difference.

 

Just a thought.... was the E brake engaged and frozen "ON" and it released when your gf hit the gas???

 

I think I'd put up the wheels, then spin each diff. If I was to venture a guess, I'd look at the transfer first. Sounds like you're popping in and out of neutral. Maybe bad linkage or something along those lines.

If each driveline spins back to the transfer----I doubt if its there----it didn't roll even in 4wd---that's the clue.

 

Pull the diff cover and look for anything down on the magnet. My first guess would be spider or c-clip broke off and got wedged in the ring & pinion. Her nailing the gas might just have popped it loose. If so, it'd be sitting on the magnet...

 

I think id lean towards the tranny at this point myself. Some things simply dont make sense. No 4X4....I wish ya luck figuring this out tho. At least your background helps ya think about crap regular shade tree mechs miss.

 

There is one thing points me away from tranny, though. He shifts into reverse just fine and started to move, then hit his "snag". He shifted into drive and pulled forward, then again, shifted into reverse and backed up to the same point and hit his "snag" again.
Tranny, probably wouldn't have allowed him to start to move in reverse in the first place...

 

Unless im missing something...what baffles me is when he hit the snag point going back, wouldnt he still be in the snag spot when trying to go forward?