Today, I found out for sure what that 4-wheel drive problem is that I was having with my truck, and I found out in the worst possible way: my driveline broke. I was 4-wheeling in some snow, and I climbed a hill to turn around when it snapped and beat the hell out of my under-carriage. I got out to see what the hell happened, but there was a cross-beam holding it in place, so I couldn't tell there was anything wrong with it (otherwise it would have been hanging down). I knew something was very wrong, and I knew it was in the front-end, so I disengaged the transfer case and turned the hubs to free, cause I thought I had broken an axle or a gear in the differential. After that, the noise stopped, but I was in a place that took 4-wheel drive to get to and I only had 2-wheel drive. It took me about 20 minutes to get out of there (it was about 75 yards away from a paved road), and when I got home and drove my truck up on ramps, I saw that a part of the driveline that connected to the rear u-joint had broken. The front u-joints were intact, but the bearings and bushing from one end were missing, and it was the one that's been making so much noise for the past couple months.

I'm hoping to find another driveline at the junkyard, and I'll get two u-joint rebuild kits and new straps and bolts from a parts store, and hopefully fix it for under $50. This is pathetic...it's the third driveline I've broken in the past two years. Hopefully that's enough for one lifetime, 'cause I don't want to ever deal with this again.