Have a 2004.5 3500 4x4 that I'm having issues with stripping spider gears in the front differential. I bought this truck about 2 years ago and found out that the splines in the spider gears were stripped out. I replaced the spider gears and both inner and outer front axles. These gears lasted about 8k miles, and I lost my 4x4 again. Took the diff apart and the spider gears were stripped again, but the axles were fine. Replaced the gears again with a different brand. I'm having some noise in the transfer case so I pulled the front driveshaft. Last week, started noticing a popping noise every once in a while when driving sounds like it's coming from the right front wheel and/or differential housing. I have never had this set of gears in 4x4, and the last set was used very minimally. Never on pavement. Haven't had things apart yet, but if it is the spider gears again, what could be causing this problem. I have never had an issue like this, let alone 2-3 times in such a short time on the same truck.

 

Going to take a wild guess at a couple of possibilities.
First, are you using the right weight and viscosity of oil?
Second, are all four tires, especially the front tires the exact same diameter? Is one front tire worn much more than the opposite side? Different diameters will result in the spider gears working overtime.
Or maybe a combination of the two reasons above.

Popping noises from one side on the front could be the CV joint.

Let us know once you find the cause of the problem.