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  #11  
Old 09-10-2010, 11:27 PM
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Hi there Jake, I own a 1995 lifted suburban as well. I haven't had that particular problem, but I do know these trucks inside out now.

There are a couple things you can do to try and isolate the problem. First off, when you had the front of the truck jacked up and spun that hub did the other side turn the opposite direction or was it stationary? In two wheel drive each wheel should spin freely without effecting the other. On the passenger side of the front differential is an electric actuator that slides a collar over the inner and outer shaft to engage the right wheel.

I can't see what's spinning and what's stationary in the video. If your drive shaft is not turning and your other wheel is turning in the opposite direction then the coupler is engaged when it shouldn't be or it's stuck. The noise could either be from a stripped collar on the coupler or something in the front spider gears.
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  #12  
Old 09-10-2010, 11:40 PM
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Just listened to your video again. What happens when you put the front in 4wd? does the actuator engage the front differential? It almost sounds like the collar is partially or is up against the splines on one side so when you spin the cv the splines are clicking against it.
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  #13  
Old 09-11-2010, 08:39 AM
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Thanks for the advice. I didn't take notice as to whether the other side spun when I turned one either of the hubs. It has open carriers, no G80 locker or G86 posi units...in case that makes a difference. When the manual 4wd is placed in 4hi, the sound is gone. The 4wd indicator light blinks, but the grinding noise goes away. This makes me think that it is the actuator, like Hank initially suggested.

That is my gut feeling, after having a little more understanding of the mechanicals. I think the actuator isn't disengaging the front drive when shifted back into 2wd. Isn't there a fork in there too?
I think this is a schematic of the front drive system in my 'burb.


All of the part numbers are listed here:

A friend told me to pull the front driveshaft and see if that makes the noise stop. I'm feeling like it will still grind, because its the CV shafts that are making it grind. Someone else told me that I should pull the actuator and see if the noise goes away. I'm not sure what that will accomplish or prove.

If I pull the front shaft, will I lose fluid from the t-case or front diff? I am clueless, and really want to try and fix this, or at least buy myself some time to figure out how I'm going to get the $ to fix it right.
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Old 09-11-2010, 09:46 AM
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I believe it's the actuator as well. Especially if your 4wd indicator light is acting up. You could have a worn out return spring causing the collar to partially disengage and making all that noise.

First thing I would do next is Jack up the front passenger side and try and spin the tire. With the actuator in normal 2wd mode you should be able to spin the tire since the collar would be disengaging the outer axle from the inner. If the tire spins and the noise is present then you definitely have a problem with your actuator or collar retraction. Make sure when you are turning the tire that the drive shaft is not turning. If the drive shaft is turning then your actuator is engaged when it shouldn't be.
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Old 09-11-2010, 09:51 AM
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Here's a pretty good picture of the front diff I tore down. You can see the actuator fork and collar gear in this pic.

http://www.allenitllc.com/suburban/apart_2.jpg
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Last edited by Rattler; 09-11-2010 at 09:58 AM.
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  #16  
Old 09-13-2010, 02:14 PM
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I have the actuator off. It doesn't seem to be making its full stroke. There are guide slots in the female tube of the portion that sits inside the diff. They are an inch long, which makes me thnk that the actuator shold have an inch or travel to dis/engage 4wd. It is stuck at halfway. Is this right? The truck was in 2wd when I shut it off last. The actuator is at the "top" of its stroke and only protruding from the female tube about 1/2". the guide slots suggest that it should be coming out another 1/2" or so.


This actuator is the same one used on more or less ALL GM 4wd trucks from '97 to '06, including 1500, 2500, and 3500. Wouldn't you know that ain't a GD junkyard in town that has one. Figures.
Anyways, it seems like it is hung up, halfway in its travel. All the pictures of new ones I'm seeing online show the actuator "button" parked all the way in or in other words...completely retracted. I'm guessing that is the 2wd position, and that it actuates to engage 4wd.

With the thing off, I can look in the hole and see the end of the rod that it pushes. When I reached in there and pushed it, everything locked up...driveshaft, and the other wheel. When I let it back out, everything disengaged.

I'm tempted to remove the actuating button and its guts, then put the rest of the unit back in the diff, and see if it runs right.
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  #17  
Old 09-13-2010, 03:24 PM
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I cut the "button" off, and threaded the housing back in nice and tight. Test drive says he is back in action, in 2wd. No grinding noise, in forward or reverse.
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  #18  
Old 09-13-2010, 03:42 PM
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Good deal Jake, glad you got it running. You don't need 4WD very often so now at least you can drive it.
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  #19  
Old 09-13-2010, 07:19 PM
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I got your Private, but could not replay Jake. It says you have exceeded your storage capacity.

Sorry I was at work. Sounds like you got it taken care of for the time being until you can get a replacement. Usually when the go bad they will not engage at all. I've run into that problem out on the trails and just pulled the actuator and I carry a socket that fits in there perfectly so when I screw in the faulty actuator it engages my 4wd for me. LOL

You can pick up the actuator at any local checker or autozone store. They tend to fail often, especially when they get submerged under water. =)
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  #20  
Old 09-13-2010, 08:00 PM
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Thanks man. I was looking for an opinion about modifying my broken one....and just wound up doing it.

Mine got real wet, I think that is what fried it. I drove down a good mile of road that had 3-4" of water on the pass side, and after that day is when it started acting up.


Your advice helped me figure out what was wrong. Thanks a million.

For the time being, I'm okay. Hopefully once I get the new actuator, I'll see that nothing else got torn up while it was hung up.
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