2000 Tahoe stuck in 4wd

[bigbadchev84]

I am working on the wifes 2000 Tahoe, new body style, it has the 5.3 in it. I noticed it had been leaving tire marks in the driveway. She told me it has been steering funny too, I took it for a test drive and it steers like crap.
Ok forgive me if I sound like an idiot, not to familiar with ifs, try to stick to the straight axle stuff. It has a 6" lift and some 33s on it if that makes any difference.

I jacked up the front end, the tires turn without turning the front driveline. So I would assume that the 4wd is not stuck?

This thing turned on a dime before. A little background on what has changed: I replaced the passenger side outer tie rod, new idler and pitman arm, also put in new crossmember drop brackets for the torsion bars, and it has been aligned twice.

It just dosent turn worth a crap and feels like the front end is binding. I have checked with it jacked up and on the ground and it turns stop to stop, dosent feel like it when moving though.


Is there an easy fix here? Where do I go from here?

 

[Orange85]

Did you engage the 4wd after you did the work? Did she accidentally hit the button? I see a lot of people that don't realize they engaged 4wd and drive around like that till they fell the scrubbing when they turn and the Actuator on the axle gets stuck sometimes.

Should be number 8 in this picture. See if it is moving when the button is pushed.

 

[bigbadchev84]

Yes I pulled the actuator out of the axle, it goes in and out with the buttons.

I just confirmed it is not in 4wd. I just pulled the front drive shaft from the axle, jacked up the yoke spins, tires dont. spin one tire the other dosent move. Tires on the ground, yoke spins free. driveshaft to transfer case is locked. So it is not in 4wd.


The steering on this thing is horrible though and is scrubbing tires on out driveway and out in the street. I just put brand new toyos on this thing!

 

[sweetk30]

like i posted in the other thread .

were is your alignment print out sheet ?

this will help a lot .

lots and lots of shops sell alignments and only set toe.

need to see the print out please. then we can go from there.

 

[Orange85]

Did it start before or after the tires were put on?

Correct tire pressure?

Worth a shot to make sure what ever company installed them inflated em correctly.

 

[bigbadchev84]

Tires are 285/75/16 load range E inflated to 40psi on 16x10 rims

I gave a print out in the other thread, but here it is again

 

[sweetk30]

ok i forgot this was your orignal .

that sheet shows it is right on the money as to good driving and wear.

cant tell ya much more on this at this time. hope someone else will help ya out here.

 

[bigbadchev84]

ok from the looks of it, it is just the passenger side tire that is making noise when the wheels are turned and backing up.

I am not familiar with the alignment deal, Is it possible they manipulated the paper they gave me? is it even possible to do?

The only reason I ask is it was visible the passenger tire was off after the first alignment, I talked to the nieghbor that works in the alignment shop and he even said they only centered the wheel and set toe. Then after the second alignment the wheel looks straight now, but it is still scrubbing.

If it is possible to manipulate the paper they gave me, I will be taking it to a different shop.

 

[Orange85]

It is possible but by the looks of it they did not. The only way that they could, would be to put in "user specs" so the it would be within their specified range not factory. The vehicle specs on that print-out look to be legit. And I am not sure about all alignment machines but the vehicle info would be different. Can't remember off the top of my head what it would say exactly. Only time we use that is when it is on a vehicle that is too old to be in the system like stuff from the '60's.

 

[sweetk30]

on hunter machines like his print out is from if you alter the specs 1 bit it will drop the vehicle info. he still hase the vehicle info on there.

good way to spot a cheeter.

 

[Orange85]

Yep thats why I said it looks legit haha. Couldn't remember if it subbed the info or just dropped it. Shows how often I use user specs haha.

 

[496truck]

driveshaft to transfer case is locked. So it is not in 4wd.

I'm thinking the opposite, you should be able to spin the front d-shaft freely. If not, then the t-case has it locked in with the rear shaft (4x4 mode).

If you really want to rule out the t-case, remove the front d-shaft and drive it. See if anything changes.

 

[noJeepshere]

GM autotrac transfer cases have a tendency after time to have the actuator fail, and it usually seems to happen when the case is shifted into 4wd. I bet that is your problem.

 

[bigbadchev84]

GM autotrac transfer cases have a tendency after time to have the actuator fail, and it usually seems to happen when the case is shifted into 4wd. I bet that is your problem.

I pulled the actuator and it is still working. As far as removing the driveline, Im not sure its possible I can pull it at the yoke, but looks to have a slip yoke? at the case. Even if the front driveline was turning the actuator is not engaged so it dosent drive the cv axles. I can spin the front yoke freely with the driveline removed

 

[sweetk30]

talked to my good friend today. he has been doing alignments for well over 20 years at gm/nissan shop.

you need to start off with ride hight check. from left side to right side.

take a level and hold against the bottom of the knuckle were the lower ball joint comes threw. then measure from there up to the center of the bolt for the lower control arm piviot point.

this should be around 5" per side. but with the lift kit it could be diffrent. so findout from fabtech and see if thay use a diffrent spec.

if the ride hight is out per side you still can get green #'s and be in spec but have weird driving problems.

hell i know i even most of the time skip the ride hight check per side.

 

[noJeepshere]

I pulled the actuator and it is still working. As far as removing the driveline, Im not sure its possible I can pull it at the yoke, but looks to have a slip yoke? at the case. Even if the front driveline was turning the actuator is not engaged so it dosent drive the cv axles. I can spin the front yoke freely with the driveline removed

The differential actuator is different than the transfer case actuator in case we got mixed up. The actuator on the t-case fails, and won't make any kind of shift after that.

 

[bigbadchev84]

The differential actuator is different than the transfer case actuator in case we got mixed up. The actuator on the t-case fails, and won't make any kind of shift after that.

Ok, I was checking the axle one then. Where can I find the transfercase one? Does anyone else with the same transfercase know if the driveline should spin free? While laying under it the wife pushes the 4wd button and I hear a noise from the transfercase area.

I have an appointment with the goodyear tire shop for another alignment to see if the get the same specs. Guys over at Pirate say it is common for mirrors to get bumped to get a better reading.

Hopefully I can at least get this thing driveable, Parking lots are a nightmare, backing up with the wheels cranked or trying to turn with the wheels cranked its like the tires are blocked and you have to give it a good bit of gas to get it to move, then you here the tires grinding the asphalt.

 

[str8axle55]

I unplugged the transfer case motor on my 03 Yukon, it would go in and out of 4wd as it pleased, you might give this a try.

 

[bradshawtech]

How about wheel bearings or CV joint?

When you had it up and spun the wheels independantly did you spin them while cranked fully to the sides?

The tough thing may be that the bearings may have to have the weight of the vehicle on them to show which one is bad.

 

[bigbadchev84]

Well I took it to a different tire shop, It drives considerably better, but is still not right. He told me the alignment was messed up pretty bad. I will be taking it back though it still scrubs just a little while turning at lock, but is way better than before. It also pulls to the right slightly. Ill keep you guys updated.