Thumping/popping noise

[TheWipprSnappr]

Im currently experiencing a pretty gnarly thumping noise and feel coming from what sounds like directly under the front seats when the car is under any acceleration. I don't wanna pull anything until I get some more advice. Could this be the front driveshaft stripping and jumping splines. Or could it be something internally in the transfer case?

[Kershaw]

Probably stripped front driveshaft splines.

[nando]

yep.. keep those splines properly lubed! I recommend Molykote BR2-plus. However, it's too late now - hopefully the damage is only on the driveshaft, and not the output of the transfercase.

[TheWipprSnappr]

That's what im hoping as well. gonna remove the shaft this week and check the splines out. Thanks for the recommendation

[TheWipprSnappr]

Trying to pull my front driveshaft and it seems pretty straight forward except for the transmission dipstick tube being wrapped around it, what's the best way to pull it out with regards to the tube?

[TheWipprSnappr]

Never mind once I got that centering pin pulled it wiggled out

[TheWipprSnappr]

update: I pulled the front driveshaft and the splines for the shaft and output gear looked just fine and had no signs of stripping. With the front shaft out I also drove it up the road and back and the popping noise went away. Could it possibly be due to a worn chain slipping? because with the front shaft removed it wouldn't be carrying a load, thus no slipping correct?

[nando]

yeah, unfortunately I think you are correct. It's likely if the chain is damaged that it was run for a time with no fluid in the transfercase. The worst part is the chain is basically NLA - you *can* buy a new one, for $900, but that's almost what a new transfercase costs..

I'd talked to a guy about running two smaller chains which are still available (from a snowmobile) but it would require some machining of the gears. The upside is they are way cheaper than the original chain.

if there's a silver lining, it drives without the front driveshaft so at least your VC is good..

[TheWipprSnappr]

Thanks for the info, and I really appreciate the quick feedback. And yes, second thought that came to mind was "at least the VC is good" haha

[TheWipprSnappr]

I also came across this because I was considering driving it around since it is my daily (I have a very short commute to work but I would have to bring it back to where I live which is a couple hours of interstate)

your VC is good, that's why it works.

it's unpredictable because you don't have your front driveline hooked up.

I don't think you will find agreement that driving with it disconnected is bad or good. The only time it will really stress the VC is under acceleration, but it really shouldn't stress it much - it can only rotate so fast before it will lock, and then it really doesn't matter. at cruising speed, the difference between the front and rear wheels is the same regardless, so I would expect the VC to be doing very little, which is why it seems to work just fine for many people without the front shaft over a long period of time.

There seems to be some disagreement with this and I just wanted to double check since I don't want to do anything detrimental

[Kershaw]

Nando is the expert, if he says it's fine, I'd believe him.

[packratbimmer]

I have a good chain and matching gears if you need them

[packratbimmer]

Might want to drain the front differential to make sure it did not pop.

[4x4_e30]

Might want to check if your axle is all the way seated into the diff. The snap rings are a bitch and when I first got my car the front left wasn't snapped in all the way, and it made a similar noise.

[TheWipprSnappr]

I hadnt considered that. Thanks for the tip, ill check it out