2014 GMC Sierra 1500 cv axle

Chuck95 · February 4

I am having issues with my four wheel drive not engaging. I got under the truck and noticed the right front axle is pulled out from the diff. What holds this in place? From what I can tell it's just a bearing and the seal but I dont know much about the workings of the differential. Is there a clip inside holing the inner axle in place that can fail?

newdude · February 4

1 hour ago, Chuck95 said:

I am having issues with my four wheel drive not engaging. I got under the truck and noticed the right front axle is pulled out from the diff. What holds this in place? From what I can tell it's just a bearing and the seal but I dont know much about the workings of the differential. Is there a clip inside holing the inner axle in place that can fail?

The CV bolts to a stub flange/shaft assembly on both sides. Those two shafts are held in with circlips.

I'd be worried about internal damage of some sort as those clips aren't too common of a failure.

The clip:

Parts exploded view. I've circled where that retainer clip is and where it goes on each axle shaft:

Chuck95 · February 4

Awesome thankyou. Do you know any common fail points that would cause the axle to shift out?

HoosierZ · February 8

I’m not sure how the axles are retained on these trucks, but on the ‘88-‘98 trucks, the axles are retained by clips and they simply snap into place and can be popped out with a pry bar. The front differential doesn’t need to be disassembled to remove the stub axles. Maybe try pushing the axle back in and see if it pops into place.