[68convertclay]

I'm driving a 2000 Silverado 1500 4WD. A couple weeks ago I began to notice a vibration and a thumping noise coming from somewhere below the drivers feet. Last saturday I crawled under to inspect, and found play in the front driveshaft forward U-joint and some play at the rear of the shaft near the transfer case. I pulled the shaft and drove to the auto parts store to get a new chevy parts U-joint. The vibration and thumping were gone. I installed the new u-joint and took a test drive. The vibration is gone, but at different times, different speeds, staight or turning, I can hear and feel a pretty heavy thumping. It comes and goes. Sometimes I can just barely hear/feel it...sometimes I swear something is about to snap and the front wheel head off in a different direction.

So does this sound like a Chevy CV joint failure or something else? and does the slight play in the rear of the forward drive shaft indicate the seals in the transfer case are failing?

any advice or insight is much appreciated.

clay

Chevy Parts

 

[95CTburb19]

sounds like a CV to me. I know when they went on my truck the steering wheel would jerk one way or the other. And you usually do hear noise under your feet.

 

[collinsperformance]

i agree sounds like cv or diff bearing play---you checked the fluid level and or change it?.........mike

 

[MrShorty]

May be CV joint. I would expect a problem with CV joints to be worse in 4wd than 2wd.

From what I understand, there shouldn't be any side to side/up-down at the t-case. In-out is probably ok, but I'm not sure on your specific t-case model (which t-case do you have?). I know on my Suburban, it's hard to see what's going on at the t-case because of the skid plates and such.

Are you certain the rest of the suspension is good and tight? Intermittent, seemingly random clunks would seem more related to suspension and steering components (ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings, sway bar bushings, and so on and so forth).

Threads merged for double post.

 

[68convertclay]

iv'e had the steering column "re-lubed" twice, whatever good that does. Seems to eliminate a click in the steering for a while, but that's quite a bit different from this. This is definitely in the front wheel drivers side, and related to tire speed, or rotation of components in the drivetrain.

I bought a new half-shaft this afternoon. I'll install in the morning, and post if this fixes the problem. If it's the CV joint, problem solved. if not, we'll figure what's next.

thanks,
clay

 

[68convertclay]

New half shaft installed...problem solved. thanks for the advice.

clay

 

[95CTburb19]

glad we could help! :glasses: