I've got a 2005 CRD with about 200,000 miles on it. Took it off roading recently and on the way back we were getting an awful noise in 4wd, coming from the front. Occasionally, when in 2wd on pavement I will hear the noise as well (but MUCH quieter), however, it does not change while turning, it is constant. After some research, and getting under the car here's what I've found:

-The Front CV joints are good, boots are also good, no noise change when turning
-Rotating the front drive axle there was no play
-The boots on the front driveshaft are in tact and in good condition
-When rotating the front driveshaft by hand there is play, and it is noisy, almost like the noise is reverberating through the shaft


So, I'm I think I'm left with the problem being that the front drive shaft is tore up, or the problem is in my front differential.

Any thoughts?

I'm planning on pulling the front driveshaft off and seeing how it looks.

Yup. Remove the front driveshaft and see what happens.
If there is still some noise then it's probably the front diff.

Were you in full-time or part-time 4wd?
Were you driving on pavement in part-time?
How hard were you driving it off road?

The front diff case is aluminum and can crack open if pushed too hard (i.e. rock crawling)

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U.S. Army Retired