Jumping when in 4x4... Need help.

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AirmanSkee

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Ok. So heres the deal. I just replaced the front actuator in my 97 K1500 with the push button controls and now the front tires are actually engaging. But after I hit about 20mph in 4hi it starts jumping like the rear tires are spinning faster than the front or vise versa. Its definitely my front end doing the jumping so Im not sure what to do to even start troubleshooting the problem. Any ideas?
 

Mean Green

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Ok. So heres the deal. I just replaced the front actuator in my 97 K1500 with the push button controls and now the front tires are actually engaging. But after I hit about 20mph in 4hi it starts jumping like the rear tires are spinning faster than the front or vise versa. Its definitely my front end doing the jumping so Im not sure what to do to even start troubleshooting the problem. Any ideas?

This is probably a stupid question, but are you running the same gear ratio and tire size front and back?

Also do you notice any excessive binding when turning one direction or the other?
 

AirmanSkee

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To be completely honest I dont know about the front, but the rear is 4.10. All 4 tires are 35x12.5r15s on the same rims. And its not a stupid question because yes, I do get some funky binding when in 4 wheel drive.
 

Horns

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Is 4.10 the ratio the truck came stock? If not I bet there's some funky gear ratio in the front end or they installed them wrong.
 

Mean Green

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To be completely honest I dont know about the front, but the rear is 4.10. All 4 tires are 35x12.5r15s on the same rims. And its not a stupid question because yes, I do get some funky binding when in 4 wheel drive.

Being your truck is a 1500, I would guess that it didn't come stock with 4:10 gears. I would check your front end gear ratio, if the front has 3:73 or 3:42 gearing you will have some major issues when in 4 wheel drive. A bit of binding when turning tight in 4 wheel drive is normal, but if you are noticing excessive binding there is an issue somewhere in the front end! A bad CV axle can cause binding issues as well!
 

AirmanSkee

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Yeah I was told it had 4.10 gears in it when I purchased the truck. But I dont know if the front was switched as well. And to check you have to completely pull it apart, right? How do you tell if the CV is bad?
 

Mean Green

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Yeah I was told it had 4.10 gears in it when I purchased the truck. But I dont know if the front was switched as well. And to check you have to completely pull it apart, right? How do you tell if the CV is bad?

The only way to know the gear ratio for 100% sure is to count the teeth on the ring and pinion. BUT you could jack up one side (with the opposite side tire on the ground) and count the turns of the front driveshaft to revolutions of the tire exactly. Just put a chalk mark on the tire in 12:00 position to keep track of the position easier, this should give you a pretty good idea of what your gear ratio is. But like I said the only way to know for sure, is to count the teeth. Check the CV for excessive play, you can try grabbing the axle and checking to see if it moves to far in any direction. Also check for cracks is the boots, that will grenade a U joint quick!
 

AirmanSkee

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Yeahhhhhh haha Im not a tranny guy so I might need a little help. How many turns are there supposed to be for 4.10 then? And would there be a big enough difference that if I did the "jack up" trick that i could tell between the sizes?
 

Horns

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You can also just pull the diff cover and the ratio should be stamped in the gear set.

Might be good to do if you haven't changed diff fluid in a while.
 

AirmanSkee

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Well Ive owned the truck for about a year... Ive honestly only ever put it in 4 wheel a few times, and never got stuck. I always thought it was working until I got 5" of snow in a few hours. So I might go a head and pull it and see whats up. How hard is it to pull the cover? And would I need a gasket and all that to put back in? And how much/what type of fluid needs to go back in? This is my first time really messing with the drivetrain up front on a truck. Ive dealt mainly with interior/electrical (lights, audio) for all my life. And motors. The tranny and gears was all my uncles doing (hes passed or I would just ask him...) Sorry for all the questions.
 
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