2005 Silverado Loud Front End Noise

[nate2404]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I have an 05 Silverado Crew Cab 4WD 5.3L engine. I have an extremely loud popping/snapping noise coming from my front drivers side axle when I drive at low speeds in the driveway. I've been scared to drive it at higher speeds so I'm not sure what it does when traveling faster. The popping noise seems to happen once every revolution of the wheel. If I go slow, I can feel when it starts to bind and I’ll put it in reverse and it will travel backward a little bit and I can feel it start to bind again. If I give it gas it will travel to the point when it binds and that will be followed by an extremely loud and violent popping noise when it lets loose. I put it up on jacks and the driver’s side will only rotate a small amount and then binds up. The passenger side rotates freely and feels normal. Under the truck I can rotate the front driveshaft freely. I drained the front diff fluid and it looked pretty good with no visible metal shavings. Has anyone had a similar problem and what was the cause? Thanks!!!