front diff grinding in 2WD. 4x4 will engage but the wheels don't receive power... sound goes away

[Lenzbian07]

I'm rockin an '07 Regular Cab with a hemi. Love the truck so damn much man, it's been faithful in the worst of times. I'm prepared to drive this sucker into the winds of Armageddon itself, with a smile, blasting my 12" subs far too loud... I digress... It's been really cold the last couple weeks and though she absolutely hated waking up and moving around, she did it. happily too. Lemme tell you boys, she doesn't even throw the engine light (right now)!
It's perhaps something that has been happening for some time, but the trouble is in the title. When driving and only when the drivetrain moves, my front diff rattles or grinds. Sounds like a gear has a missing tooth or two or something. I engage 4x4 and the sounds ceases, buuuut, i lose about 40% power to my back wheels and the front tires don't pull.....

SO

How ****** am I?
Thanks for reading anyways, LONG LIVE THE MIGHTY RAM

 

[Heatheroo]

I don't have any suggestions for your rattle but I will say I spent a January in Saskatoon back in the 80's. You folks are.........different

 

[aviatorblackout]

Pull the front diff cover off and take a look. Doesn't take long. Put it in neutral so you can spin it and see if anything is broken. Check the front CVs to, as well as the CV on the front of the transfer case. All of those would sound like "front diff grinding" noises

 

[Lenzbian07]

Upon inspection of the Front Passenger side I found the CV free spinning while parked... just the gears rattling on that shot CV while driving. Luckily that isn't too bad of a fix!

 

[aviatorblackout]

Can you tell what is broken- Is it the joint in the actual CV? It could be the splines on the diff side of the CV- any play in the CV joint over time will cause the CV to wear down the spline of the passenger diff shaft. It it technically called an "intermediate shaft".

If its just your CV joint thats busted its a quick fix. If you need to replace the CV shaft its not usually that much more work, but if that shaft is too tough to pull or knock out, you may have to open you front diff to knock out the shaft from the inside.