Front wheels not engaging on 2014 Ram 1500 4wd

[JacobP01]

I have a very odd situation… At some point over the weekend my truck ended up in some mud (not my fault) and there was an audible snap/popping noise. The ABS light and Traction Control light came on simultaneously as well as the front driver side wheel not engaging. It could have been the front passenger side wheel as well, but I don’t know. I tore apart the front driver side, removed CV Axle and the intermediate shaft that goes into the front differential and found nothing broken, snapped or sheared. I also found nothing broken snapped or sheared inside of the front differential housing or any of the bearings. There’s no play in them whatsoever unless the Intermediate shaft and CV Axle are inside the housing. Is anyone familiar enough with a 2014 Ram 1500 4wd truck that could offer some pointers. I did about 4 hours of diagnostics on it last night and have no idea or conclusions with confidence on what it could be. The front driveshaft does look newish, but it also looks like it might be in a pinch so maybe that caused the audible snapping noise and that has now put a pinch on the shaft, but when I tried to remove the shaft it did not budge. Any pointers would be helpful.

 

[JacobP01]

 

[BenchTest]

Does that front driveshaft rotate by hand?

 

[JacobP01]

You have to give it some elbow grease, but yes.

 

[BenchTest]

That front driveshaft, not engaged in 4WD should rotate "about freely", or better said, without much effort to do so. Selector in 2WD, key off/out of ignition, and it's dragging to where you really have to lean on it to turn it?

 

[JacobP01]

I have to get both hands on it to turn it a quarter of a rotation. that’s what lead me to believe it could be the front driveshaft.

 

[BenchTest]

You said you tried to remove that shaft in your original post. Is yours a flange mount to front diff? If you unbolt the flange, you're not able to drop it down?

 

[JacobP01]

It’s a flange mount with 4 bolts, that’s the only thing holding it onto the front differential. The transfer case side is just a yoke.

 

[BenchTest]

OK, so if you unbolt it, can you slide it down and rotate by hand? Does it require more or less effort to turn when disconnected from front diff? Or are you unable to get that far?

 

[JacobP01]

I can’t even get it off the flange on the front differential. It won’t move even when prying and hammering it’s almost like it’s in a bind. It’s like it’s under pressure from the transfer case side.

 

[BenchTest]

Start your vehicle, foot on brake, shift into drive 3 seconds, shift to neutral 3 seconds, shift to reverse 3 seconds, shift back to neutral foot still on brake. Set the emergency/parking brake firmly. Then shift from neutral straight back to Park and shut if off. This will apply forward and reverse torque on drivetrain and then pausing on Neutral to give it a chance to relieve the torque, settling into Park with the parking brake set will prevent the vehicle from rolling either way and re-applying torque to the drivetrain. Then see if A) you can turn that shaft easier and more importantly B) drop that driveshaft to inspect.

 

[JacobP01]

Can this be down with the front end jacked up and the driver side wheel and suspension removed?

 

[BenchTest]

Can this be down with the front end jacked up and the driver side wheel and suspension removed?

I wouldn't. I don't know to what degree you're "torn down" and if you put something into motion that isn't properly supported/connected/disconnected, you'd likely have a bad outcome.

 

[Brandon-w]

This usto happen when id snap cv axles. Check Ur CVs if the moot looks wrapped up or the boot is broken it's probly a bad cv axle. I usto go through these yearly.

 

[JacobP01]

This usto happen when id snap cv axles. Check Ur CVs if the moot looks wrapped up or the boot is broken it's probly a bad cv axle. I usto go through these yearly.

I pulled the CV and it is intact. I will be off of work in about 30 minutes and can share photos soon

 

[Brandon-w]

Did you check the inner splines of the cv shaft? They wear and sometimes strip out too.

 

[JacobP01]

so I replaced the CV axle and wheel hub, that was not the problem. After further troubleshooting I found the front driveshaft was in a bind and it does not spin in unison. The front diff side spins and the transfer case side does not. This was after wrestling with it and driving down the road some, the driveshaft came out of the bind it was in. The driveshaft will not come off. Any other recommendations on how to get it off? I took off the 4 flange bolts and no other bolts. Prying it and smacking it with a hammer have yielded no results

 

[Wild one]

so I replaced the CV axle and wheel hub, that was not the problem. After further troubleshooting I found the front driveshaft was in a bind and it does not spin in unison. The front diff side spins and the transfer case side does not. This was after wrestling with it and driving down the road some, the driveshaft came out of the bind it was in. The driveshaft will not come off. Any other recommendations on how to get it off? I took off the 4 flange bolts and no other bolts. Prying it and smacking it with a hammer have yielded no results

Unbolt the diff itself,only 7 bolts hold it in place,the 3 on the top are the only ugly ones to get at.That's if i'm getting what you're having issues with. If you can't actually get the shaft off the splines,then you'll probably have to heat it with a torch "carefully" and quench it a couple times with a good penetrating oil not WD40,and have a fire extinguisher handy

 

[JacobP01]

Resorted to a dewalt grinder with a metabo.

 

[BenchTest]

Does the output to the front driveshaft from the transfer case rotate without a lot of effort?