Hey -

The front end of my Sierra makes a moaning noise when I turn left or right in 4WD. It seems also like there is quite a bit of resistance when accelerating while turning as well. When 4WD is not engaged, the front end is completely normal. Any ideas?

*If this thread exists somewhere, please just kindly refer me to it. Thanks

Lucky,
This is normal for a 4X4 when it is engaged. I've had 2 4X4s and that is par for the course. Is this your first 4X4?

Is the truck used? If so how many miles are on it? I would probably service the front axle/differential.....change out the fluids. If you have a skid plate you'll need to remove it or enough of the bolts to rotate it out of the way in order to drain the axle w/out making a mess. Not sure the exact amount of fluid...(I didn't keep track) but you fill it to about 1/2 inch below the fill hole - per the manual. You will need a funnel w/ a long hose b/c you can't put a quart container in and just squeeze the bottle....not enough room!!!!

I just did this fluid change on my Father-n-law's 2001 Chevy last night (100,800 miles) and he had a lot of metal shavings sticking to the magnet end of the drain plug.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas!!!!:grinyes:

The key to this question is whether this happens on dry pavement, during which of course he should not be using the 4wd anyway.

Well... it does it in snow. I hate having to drive in 4WD when it's even just slick but my back end is so light that I just fishtail w/o 4WD engaged. Perhaps I should invtest in some sandbags? My truck has 78k miles on it, and it was my dads truck before. He doesn't remember what maintenance he has done to it (thanks Dad).

Also, I am going to pull the female card and probably just take it to a dealer to get it serviced. I can change spark plugs and air filters, but that's about it :grinyes:

I suggest you place in the AUTO setting, not the 4x4.

Or is that what you are doing now?

That way when you need the front wheels, they will engage automatically when the rear wheels slip. Thats the setting I leave mine on when driving on snow cover roads unless I need more controlled traction. If you are locked into 4x4 and you loose control, it will be hard to regain control with the front wheels locked in.

I don't have any weight in the back of my trucks and I have no problems. What kind of tires do you have? The tires that come stock on these trucks are lousy IMO for traction. My 2001 and my 2004 came with 265 Bridgestone Dueller AT's and I had to replace them when the snow came, terrible tires IMO. My 2008 came with Goodyear Wrangler AT/S (GM exclusive tread pattern) and so far they have been terrific in snow and ice.

Z15

That is good advice. However... I just don't like how the truck doesn't tell me if it is in 4WD or 2WD when it is in auto. I did however, take it out in the snow the other night and play arond with the auto 4WD and it seems to work pretty well. I will probably leave it in auto from now on. Gotta love this Colorado snow!