2002 Dodge Ram front diff/cv noise
Record Breaker
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,810
Likes: 105
From: PA
All right so yeah that snap ring is missing. It either broke off or is just gone, I can actually slip the CV female end right back over the male end, but there's no bite to make it stay. Without removing the knuckle or the bearing I can actually slip it off enough to see where the snap ring is supposed to be.
The guy I bought the truck from told me that the front end needed some interlock pin or something to work. He said he paid a shot 500 bucks to put it in then he drove the truck home and let it sit for a couple months. Any hopped in it and put it in four wheel drive and he heard a grinding clicking popping noise coming from the front end. I am guessing that that clicking popping noise was the female end slipping off the diff.
He also said he changed the cvs himself, (touts himself as a mechanic) and well based on some of his other work that I've seen on this truck I could very well see him not putting that snap ring back on there, or replacing it if it needed it. When I slipped the female end over the male end there is like a small sort of a click to get it in but it doesn't take really any Force to pull it off, and like I said I can tell that the snap ring isn't in there because I can see the groove.
That being said when I slipped the female end over the male end, the noise stops. When I was turning the front drive shaft, the shaking of the CV that I was seeing was because it had come off of the male spline end, so those spines were just barely touching each other and causing the CV to jump up and down.
The guy I bought the truck from told me that the front end needed some interlock pin or something to work. He said he paid a shot 500 bucks to put it in then he drove the truck home and let it sit for a couple months. Any hopped in it and put it in four wheel drive and he heard a grinding clicking popping noise coming from the front end. I am guessing that that clicking popping noise was the female end slipping off the diff.
He also said he changed the cvs himself, (touts himself as a mechanic) and well based on some of his other work that I've seen on this truck I could very well see him not putting that snap ring back on there, or replacing it if it needed it. When I slipped the female end over the male end there is like a small sort of a click to get it in but it doesn't take really any Force to pull it off, and like I said I can tell that the snap ring isn't in there because I can see the groove.
That being said when I slipped the female end over the male end, the noise stops. When I was turning the front drive shaft, the shaking of the CV that I was seeing was because it had come off of the male spline end, so those spines were just barely touching each other and causing the CV to jump up and down.
Sounds like you're on your way to fixing the issue. I'll often head to the jyard instead of the dealer/parts store for non-ware items, since there are a few yards that are within 30 or so minutes from me.