Its been a tough week . I'm in the process of moving , towing a small trailor back and forth and my front wheel bearing went on driver side .

I installed a new wheel bearing and ujoint on the driverside axel shaft . After driving it a couple miniutes its making a bad grinding noise (abs and brkae light come on) . I have takien it apart to inspect and I cant see anything I may have done wrong . When I lift the driver side tire on a jack , the front drive shaft is not turning out of the transfercase , I believe it should be? The 4x4 does work even though its making noise . Does the axel shaft have to be aligened a certian way? It seems like it shoulnt matter . I also changed out the oil in both front and rear hubs , and dint notice anything funky . After I pull it apart and re-assemble it seems to drive fine for a few minuites before the problem re-occurs . When in the air the tire spins nice and free with no noise . No noticable damage to the shaft spines .


I'm to the point where I might just have to take it to a shop . This is my last ditch effort .

 

Is sensor plugged in? Wire get damaged possible, heat shield rubbing on rotor maybe.

 

Thx for the reply . Wires pluged in , in good shape . Shield is actually off , I need one . If I remember the front drive shaft is supposed to turn even when in 2wd . It is not .

As I listen to the sound I think it is coming from in the axel hub . But its odd that 4wd works if somthing was messed up in there . Its either somthing really stupid , or expensive . Im thinking the later

 

Your front axle has a vacumn actuator that disengages the front axle shaft, so your front driveshaft should not turn when not engaged in four wheel drive.
In 2003 Dodge went to American axle which does not use a disconnect on front axle shaft so on these the driveshaft does turn when in 2 wheel drive.

The shift motor receives a vacuum signal from the switch mounted on the transfer case when the vehicle operator wants to switch from two wheel drive mode to four wheel drive mode, or vice versa. When this signal is received, the shift motor begins to move the shift fork and collar within the axle housing. In the four wheel drive mode, the shift collar connects the axle intermediate shaft to the axle shaft to supply engine power to both front wheels. In two wheel drive mode, the shift collar is disengaged from the intermediate shaft and the intermediate shaft is allowed to free-spin. When the two shafts are disengaged, the load on the engine is reduced, thereby providing better fuel economy and road handling.
- INDICATOR LAMP SWITCH
2 - DISCONNECT HOUSING
3 - VACUUM SHIFT MOTOR
4 - AXLE SHAFT
5 - SEAL
6 - SHIFT COLLAR
7 - SHIFT FORK
8 - BEARING
9 - INTERMEDIATE AXLE SHAFT

 

Check the passenger side wheel as well... If i were a bit closer to Buffalo I would ride over and check it out for you..

 

noise is a funny thing, its highly possible the other side is the culprit, I've been burned before

 

I agree with Nick, have been in this type of situation and seen it before. You think driver side and ends up being passenger side. Bad part is the noise goes away on a jack or a lift(no load on bearing). Sometimes you could pinpoint a front wheel bearing by going around corners. Going left or right would load unload the bearings to an extent. Sometimes you can raise it up on a jack and rotate it and possibly feel the roughness in the bearing, the ol' screwdriver stethascope sometimes works as well. If everything checks out that you've had apart(axle installed properly, seated in carrier).

 

This ever get figured out?