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Thanks for posting this. I have not had the time to work on my Trailblazer and it's been sitting on jack stands for months because of this issue. I was going to start fresh with trying to reseat it into the transfer case just in case I did happen to kink it on the way out. Before taking another crack at it I watched your video and it sent me in the right direction on how to tackle it. All the other videos I have seen showed the actuator housing just popping out after being unbolted. Details below: To remove it I used a heavy mallet and chisel to push in the back of the housing into the transfer case. I took off the front and removed the guts and went around it while hammering to push it back in and possibly crack the seize. I was not sure how much I may had moved it in the past and if it was moving evenly so reseating it made sure my next step would apply pressure evenly. I then used the end of a slide hammer sandwiched between the two pieces of the housing which I bolted back in place with only a little play once bolted back in. I didn't want to bolt it down too tight and put pressure on the spindle of the transfer case. For shiggles I sprayed some WD-40 in the crevice between the housing and the transfer case. I didn't expect it to do much but figured it could not hurt. Then I just layed on the ground and kept working the slide hammer as hard as I could. Checked spacing here and there and didn't see any movement. I kept at it moving to different positions trying to get better leverage and eventually it popped off covered with a bit of crud but nothing horrible. Mind you I have done this before just not as forceful and for as long. Hope this helps someone else in the future.

I took on this job to help out my daughter's boyfriend. His parents bought the parts and I did the free labor. The 4wd disconnect was seized in the oil pan just like the video. I didn't have any luck trying to gently pry it away. I used KZfaq and found this video. After watching this video, I was frustrated that it might not be possible to remove it. I knew I had to get it out. I used a combination of an air hammer and a slide hammer to remove it. I removed all the bolts and took the front cover off. I then used a slide hammer with some thick washers. I bolted the slide hammer to the second half of 4wd disconnect. I used the slide hammer and was able to get some movement. It then quit moving. I figured it was bound up at an angle. I switched the slide hammer plate to a different set of mounting holes. I used the air hammer set about 80 psi to massage the half of the 4wd housing. The housing then seated back flush. I then started working the slide hammer again. I could definitely feel it coming out. My big take away and advice: The 4wd disconnect sits in the oil pan with a tight tolerance. Corrosion makes them hard to remove. Also, It has to be removed evenly. If the recessed half it not being pulled straight out, it will bind up. I used a 3 ton floor jack to raise the lower control arm up enough to use the slide hammer effectively. Once I got it coming out straight, it was easy. I hope this helps someone. Remember to bolt the slide hammer plate to only the back half of the 4wd disconnect assembly. The holes that use the shorter bolts.

Great video! One thing I want to add is the envoys/trailblazers use the same hub assembly and knuckle on 4wd and 2wd. (2wd has no axle) so you can run these trucks without the cv axles and not worry about the wheel bearings coming apart. You do need to leave the inboard cv axle housing snapped into the front diff to prevent leaks and contamination of the front diff. Most other vehicles you cannot run without the axles. The envoy and trailblazer are an exception.

I got myself too deep into this mess to turn back. I would consider myself a Ford guy, but I made a gamble on a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer LS (4.2L). I went to get it inspected, but they failed me on the upper control arms and upper ball joints. When I saw the estimate they gave me ($1100), I just turned around and bought the parts to do the job myself. At 24, I have never done any sort of front end work before, but I have experience with replacing parts myself on every other vehicle I've owned. I replaced the parts (which was a pain btw because I had to cut part of the body that wraps directly behind the upper control arm bolt, making it impossible to remove otherwise) over the course of two weekends. While I had everything apart, I noticed the boot of the CV axle on the passenger side was torn. I was annoyed, but bought the axle, along with the 36mm socket I'd need for the axle nut. Before the part arrived, I made a 30 mile trip. Near the end of the trip, I felt a really bad vibration coming from the passenger side, and seconds before I arrived, I heard metal on metal banging with every revolution of the axle. I got out, and to my chagrin, I saw that the wheel was barely hanging on. Three lugs had sheared completely off, and the rest were loose. After limping my car to a flat work space, I assessed the carnage. I pulled the CV axle out, and looked at the 4x4 disconnect. The bottom was almost eaten through, causing the axle to flop around on the frame. I shook my head, and ordered a new 4x4 disconnect, along with a new hub assembly (both of which were not cheap). I stayed up til the wee hours of the morning last night working on the Trailblazer. The majority of the time was spent in trying to get the back half of the 4x4 disconnect off the oil pan. I saturated the connection with PB Blaster, and pried with all my might. Eventually, I broke the part in half, leaving half of it still firmly stuck. To those who are dealing with this, using a hammer to beat evenly around the perimeter of the part does more good than prying with the strength of a dozen men. This morning, I got an alignment (they also replaced the lower control arms), and the 4x4 works again now. As my first front end experience, I don't think it can get worse than that. In the future, I think I will stick to Fords. (I tried Chevy, I really did).

dude, lovely touch with the countdown before sound level changes. Never seen anybody else do that

Here's a bit of trail-side engineering for your consideration. Bust one of these in the woods and you can remove the stub shaft end from the axle , reinstall only that, and get her home.

Good job of describing how the various parts work and the resulting damage from the broken CV shaft.

Not sure if it's a common issue, but we had one come in with identical damage. We used a puller, heated the gear on the transmission shaft while using a air chisel on the gear to break it lose. Took about 45 minutes and a lot of cussing. And your right, I wouldn't advise tackling it without a lift. It took three of us. 1 torch, 1 puller tension and 1 air chisel.

With one well timed edit Doug dashed the hopes of dozens but saved the lives of hundreds. Truly a hero and a villain. Worst failure I've ever seen? Well I briefly owned 1998 Chrysler Sebring convertible. I stopped owning in when it began leaking (gushing) coolant from too many places to identify.

My disconnect was seized as well on my trailblazer. I had to get underneath with an air hammer and rock the housing back and forth. Took an hour but it finally came loose.

GREAT video! Learning a lot. I have AWD and does not have the actuator, but still needs lubrication....not serviceable....grrrr! Have full front suspension out of my GMT-360, Saab 9-7x variant. It's actually quite interesting to watch all the videos and learn the differences between part-time 4WD and AWD. Keep on posting (04/26/2022) Mr .P

omg i’ve done change the whole front suspension on a trailblazer . my friend got the vehicle with the transfer case and cv axels deleted . now that i watched your video it all makes since wth is going on why their is still a weird noise when she drives . i didn’t know you couldn’t drive it with out the cv axels in since it’s 4 wheel drive . thanks a bunch glad i watched this because i’m so over this vehicle spent to many hrs on it .

You can drill and tap two holes in that part and use a puller it will come out.

I had a trail blazer come to me with both CV axles wobbling like that

Way back when the GMT360 platform was in development, I remember seeing the engine as a machined piece of rigid foam. It was in Pontiac at the Truck Product Center garage. I remember having a chat with my buddy about how the hell they were going to package an inline 6 in that engine bay with it being so tall (I have a FJ40 Land Cruiser that had an inline 6 in it). My jaw hit the floor when I found out that the front drive shaft would have to go through the oil pan. Really too bad, the engine is rather powerful, until the owner neglects it and doesnt put oil in it. That is what I am dealing with right now. Contemplating an engine swap on a Trailblazer, and have to take the entire front end apart. Your issue is simpler I think, as you can just swap the oil pan... but it is a pain since the whole front suspension has to come apart to drop the pan.

Here’s a suggestion leave the seized part in there because the broken parts are on the other half replace the other half and the cv and good to go

Its a normal front diff. it has a mid shaft that goes through the oil pan and all that unit does is disconnects the shaft from the diff. It usually just falls off after taking out the bolts. Its built that way to make the truck sit lower for better center of gravity. And yes you can drive it just fine without it. you can just take the shaft part out of the two ends and keep bolt on the axel then cap the other side to keep crap out of the diff. Also its an inline 6 not a v 6

Those axle disconnects do tend to stick in the oil pan. Do not try to pull it out in one yank! Get it to move out just a bit then push it back in. Pull it out a little further, push it back in. Repeat until it comes out. They can be a nightmare to remove.

I have had the exact same problem with my 03 envoy but I just took both cv axles and the drive shaft out

I also wanted to add I actually drove with my shaft out for a few weeks because the bering cage on the cv busted during a hella snow storm. Got under there and cut the boot out of the part in the diff to keep junk out then left the nut on the hub. Just leave the bolted end on. knock out the bering cage with a chisel. Then cap the end the goes into the selector.

Well boys I have a 05 GMC envoy xl and I'm in the same problem so I'm going to tempt to remove my and put it back together wish me luck thanks for the video

New to the channel! Just was searching to see if anyone has done this same thing I have a 08 trailblazer and have the same issue! I haven’t yet tackled it but it will be soon! Hopefully mine doesn’t get stuck like that one I’m on the other side of the country so not nearly as much rust and corrosion as the east coast but I have driven this across country a few times and lived in Ohio for a bit seems that is when my issues started! I actually drove home from Ohio to Washington on this issue and also blew out a rear axel bearing in Colorado... she got me home tho! Definitely gotta say this truck has been great to me had it since new and over 200k on the clock have a couple thousand lbs of stereo equipment and it’s been hauling that and has toed a vehicle so it’s definitely a work truck! The 4.2 is an inline 6 so it’s got more torque then the v8 actually! The extended ones came with the 5.3 in the lt package then you have the ss witch is I believe a 6.0 LS but Like I said I’ve had this one since new and a while back I lined up with a ss and the 4.2 stayed right with it from 60-120 I was pretty impressed!

Would a bad bearing (or any internal damage for that matter) in the axle disconnect housing cause vibration felt at highway speeds? I have a 2008 trailblazer with a lot of flop when I move around the cv axle where it goes into the axle disconnect....my symptoms are shaking felt at highway speeds...I can really feel it in the front end around 65mph+ and it's not there or I can't feel it anyway at slower speeds...I definitley have a bunch of play though at the cv where it meets the axle disconnect Also was wondering as I live in florida and have absolutley no use for the 4x4 (bought truck up north for snow could I just "delete" the front diff by removing both cv axles and front driveshaft? I heard that the 2wd and 4wd hubs are the exact same so it is ok to do as far as the hub bearings are concerned

AutoZone shows identical part numbers for the 4x4 AND 4x2 front hub. 4x2 requires no axle stub in it to run. I own 1 of each.

Vocabulary is top notch my dude!

1990 Ford Festiva.... I lost my entire wheel and axel because of the bad wheel bearing and steering components (all the stuff you cut in from the future to explain)... It was so funny watching the tire roll away from the car... Luckily going very slow...

I just did this with my '08 TB. the passenger side was a pain, the fact that the CV joint wouldn't come out so I am bolted the plate and was able to remove it all at once and used a pulley to separate the axle from the diff plate. mine didn't have metal shavings in the housing so I cleaned/regreased and put it back together.

Got. 03 trailblazer doing clanking in cv axle but quits when i put it in 4wd would this be similar to this problem

Done the cv axle on my sisters 2016 Chevy Impala....after installing the two sway bars, new bearings etc. It looked exactly like this one.... literally broken in half 😂 what a mess of a job.

9 degrees Frankenstein 🤣. You're hilarious

2004 GMC Envoy , well maintained and a great vehicle , was parked out front of my house , on the street , crazy neighbour lady backs her mini van out of her driveway at what seemed to be half throttle , hits the drivers side front wheel dead center , small amount of damage on fender but no biggie right ? I go to move envoy back into my driveway and the wheel lets go at the bottom ball joint rendering me in place. Managed to lift up and jimmy it together and bring up the street to my mechanic so crazy neighbour lady could support his cause! Great car , lasted many years until my son t-boned an idiot turning in front of him from a red light. Also have a 2006 and 2007 Envoy , Wife drives the 2006 and I pick parts off of the 2007. New front right cv joint just arrived and I will be installing on wifey's car tomorrow, (boot is torn on existing shaft) , new one was very inexpensive so didn't bother with removing one from parts car. Worst ( and most expensive downside to envoys ) is the rear tailgate glass exploding , $1500 replace , thank goodness for insurance. Turns out rust builds up on the upper hinge parts , expands and then shatters the tempered glass. Cheers!

I’m working on this exact issue right now on a 2005 Chevy envoy

can you pull the stub from the CV on the outer side? Still have compression on W/B

You can do a cv joints delete…. You have to disassemble the cv shaft threaded end off the cv shaft and reinstall onto bearing hub without the complete c/v shaft. Been there done that lol.

Going through this now ! If you seen the new hub it’s a 2 part piece so when you take out all the bolts it comes out like yours did and when you take out the 4 bolts required it comes out in one piece except mine .. mine broke around the outside lol Air chisel here we come !!! Since the cv shaft is screwed anyways I was thinking just take it apart and using it for the hub so it doesn’t blow the bearing apart... What a mess

That looked rough for sure!

What type of noise was it making? I have some grinding coming from my front end, and the wheel bearing has been replaced in the last year. Could it be a cv shaft/axle?

I felt the same way.(gutless) untill $1,200 at auction and heads/valve job on this 06 denali. I'm replacing my front axles. 👍🏾

This is normally true. These trucks are a bit of a different breed tho. The wheel bearings on them do not need the pre load on them, if you look them up the RWD models and the 4X4 models use the same wheel bearings. The RWD are just simply bolted into the knuckle. No stub shaft. I have owned both 4x4 and RWD 360s.

Thank you for clarifying, the delete- i am 244 miles from home. My cv joint im pretty sure is 2times worse then this one . 🤔 i drove 350 miles with that ruckus today- it would stop and then all hell broke loose .. creeping at a 45 mph on hwy 95 near Winnemucca 😳

my 08 was worse than this. the CV axle had spun around and hitt the lower control arm bracket. totally cut the actuator off. rip the pigtail off. I pretty much replaced everything but the spindle on the right side so the almost the whole right knee I was able to get the distorted housing off

Was that chickens in that background or your stool? Haha

Hey my son has 2 envoys a 2004 4x4 and a 2002 2WD and both have the same hub bearings and there's no CV axle on the 2WD so what is holding it together ?

Nice your a genius brother 💪🏾

Had a friend with a 2004 Mitsubishi Galant with a power steering leak. Turns out the daughter let it go for so long it burned out the pump and dried out the rack and pinion. It need new hoses, a pump and a rack. To put in a rack and pinion on this fine piece of engineering you had to remove the subframe. To change the oil on this thing it had a size 24 mm drain plug in it.

mines is at the point before hearing grinding, What's the exact name of the part so I can get it replaced ASAP!

I'm going to go ahead and put this out there I have an 06 Envoy XL with the 4200 vortec inline 6 I've got a different intake on it I put a GM performance control module chip on it I put a straight exhaust on it past the first cat and I'm getting ready to turn 230,000 on it. I've had it framed out in the middle of fields and Frozen in the ground couldn't get it out for 3 days you know just pretty much done anything that you can imagine doing the one took it through all kinds of trails I've took it through flooded roads I pulled shit that no midsize SUV should ever pulled I've hauled multiple vehicles with it across many states the damn thing is a fucking monster dude for a midsize SUV is unbelievable it's a fucking army tank the front end I will say he has some kind of shitty designs on like the the bushings and and the housing and everything as far as I see the axles go but man dude I really can't complain much on the vehicle I've always changed on it the oil when it was due you know around 3500 miles try to keep up the regular maintenance I put a couple coil packs in it you know a set of plugs change the transmission fluid around 185,000 MIles I'm pretty sure my overdrive something's starting to act funny but to overall I love this vehicle it's been just outstanding in my opinion it's had its little ups and downs but for the most part it's never left me stranded except for you know when I've had it stuck multiple times I had a friend that had a small Dino and it registered 330 ft pounds of torque and 317 horsepower the motor still runs like a damn sewing machine it's a freaking monster I am getting ready to look into changing the timing chain I think it'll probably be good thing to do since I'm going to try to hold on to it for a little bit longer I disconnected the four-wheel drive sometime back because I'm not living where I need it anymore and I think the switch or the selector solenoid went out so I just went ahead and disconnected the front drive shaft and and unplug the wiring harness going to the the selector switch and I ain't had no problems yet but my front left CV just starting to pop a little bit and I'm hoping that I can take the CV axle out and leave the part that goes through the Hub and make sure the back of its got something good to grab and tighten back down the the nut going on the CV shaft and cross my fingers until I get another 1. But yeah like I said overall man I can't complain dude the midsize SUV that can do pretty much anything I've ever wanted it to do plus I've always liked it looks of a man looks decent you know I've got to cut some paint job on mine and instead of 22s the XL shit man for work I can't beat it I've got some subs in the back and all my tools with me and I wish they would still make the damn Envoy xl cuz I would definitely get another one.i really have put gmcs threw the trials ive beat the fucking hell out of them and they keep on ticking with maintence of course, and consideration and know ing the limits of your machine matched with respect and sense plus mechanically knowledge you can keep most vehicles on the road for a good while .4200 vortec inline six after 2005 is a damn good motor before 06' they were not near as good in low end torque or overall performance. 4.5 / 5 stars in my opinion. A lil heavy, front end needed to be redesigned. suspension and drivetrain components could have been better. With all that said i drive the shit out of my ride and love it.

You could take out the axle and just insert the part of the CV that holds the hub together.

Lol I had a non mechanical buddy try to take his valve cover off used the wrong sized socket and stripped all the nuts. His reasoning for taking off the non leaking valve cover was because he wanted to see the inside of the motor 🤷🏽 mind you I’ve told this guy from all my Jeep issues, if it’s not broke don’t fix it.

That’s a lot of damage.

This is why I'm glad to live in an inspection state (PA). That would have been caught when the owners took it in for stickers.

I made it 10 miles down the highway before I lost my wheel. Was an amazing experience, not that I recommend it by any means. Had to have the fire department come out and put out the 100 yrd stretch of median that apparently doesn't like brake fluid and Sparks.

So here’s the problem with the GMT360 platform. The straight six which is a reliable engine, was also a stupid design. The front differential goes THROUGH the oil pan. I’m about to go through this swap on my 05 trailblazer. Btw tow rating for a trailblazer/envoy/rainier/Bravada/Saab 9-7x/Isuzu ascender was 6400 pounds.

You can do a CV axle delete!!!! They actually come that way for the models that are not 4x4

GMC = Gotta Mechanic Coming....🔧🛠️$$$$.$$

Did you ever end up getting it out? If so, how did you go about it?

The wheel bearing module is not pressed together. The hub is cold forged over the back side of the inner race of the bearing . it cannot be removed. You can not rebuild the bearing modules, th whole module has to be changed. The 2 wheel drive model use the same bearing modules as the 4WD models. You can pull the axlw shafts and drive a 4WD model as a 2WD model.

It passes though the engine oil pan.

Apparently some owners of Trailblazers/Envoys of that particular era were not inclined to maintain their vehicles. I say that because while I was visiting a friend of mine in his shop the other day I saw the almost identical damage on/to a Trailblazer he had up on a lift. Tom has GM deeply imbedded in his DNA AND is a Navy veteran.....Sooooo….Can you say "Cursed like a sailor"? His is a very well equipped shop and he told me that the only solution he could see, that would make the vehicle safe to drive, was to completely rebuild the front end with GM "quality parts". Since the gent that brought this Trailblazer in for "some kind knocking in the front end" is the fourth registered owner and only paid $600.00 for it as a "daily driver beater" he has given Tom the go a head to do the work. If this video had been up last Saturday I would have sent you photos so you could compare what you found on the Envoy to what Tom found on the Trailblazer. I'm no mechanic but I would swear that what you found was a match for what Tom encountered.

Replace the whole front axle with a used one , thats what i gotta do , my cv never blew but the bearing behind it is vibrating at 45 mph , let off the gas it stops , finally figured out where it was coming from both new cv joints , all nes u joints , that didnt do nothing , stinking bearing i never changed before in that front carrier behind the cv shafts , yuk .

The envoy is an absolute survival dependable truck these bad boys would do just about any job you throw at them climb over just about anything these vehicles last a long time and the motor pretty much has to be seized for them to stop moving I've had my own voice for 10 years now and I absolutely love this Beast but that's not to say that they don't have their issues it's just usually pretty cheap to fix the issue I've never had to repair on this thing that crossed more than $500 considering I do most of it on my own I absolutely love the Envoys I have yet to see a vehicle Outlast them the coolest part is with my 02 I was on the highway and I beat a Dodge Charger busting it at 110 mph wasn't paying attention and didn't see the cop ahead I got pulled over and got a ticket I wasn't even mad at the ticket I was kind of proud of it and put it in a picture frame on my wall my little O2 Envoy beat a buffed up Dodge Charger it was epic love these vehicles

expected for an independent suspension lol

Mint

took me 9 hrs because i was scared of ruining oil pan .found this link gmtnation.com/forums/threads/hard-to-remove-front-disconnect-assembly-2005-envoy.13748/

I think you removed too many bolts. Should only be 3 and leave 4 then inner comes out with outer after a few taps with hammer. I may be wrong tho. That sucker was beat up for sure!

We let my wife's brother borrow her 02 Neon and he said the brakes needed replaced. I trailered it to my dad's garage and he had completely worn down the rotor so that the braking surface was gone. The metal backing plate of the brake pad had cut it down. Now obviously the caliber had gotten stuck, but you would have thought you would have noticed it pulling to one side and stopped driving it.

My dads silverado just broke a cv axle it happened right before a huge snow storm

Just take the cv joints out and take them apart and just put the shaft part back through the wheel bearing , then put it in two wheel drive and make a two wheel drive out of it.

All that damage is nothing but pure Jersey unadulterated neglect from the previous owner it's definitely not a reflection of the auto manufacturer in question however I do know people that had those trucks and everyone I've ever known that had one was dissatisfied with the vehicle

you can run these as a 2wd set up.

Guess what? I'm going thru the exact same damn thing on my 2002 trailblazer

It goes trew the oil pan

worst design chevrolet front wheel ddrive ever made. No wonder the gov. has to bale out general motors , they make junk cars and TRUCKS now.

So just cut if off behind the wheel bearing hub and nut it up! All done!

I actually like these suvs over the jeeps etc….I’ve got an 05 trailblazer LS…they have the identical engines etc in the envoys and tb…the inline 6 4.2l that come stock with around 280hp and 280ish ft lb of torque at the wheels…I can tow up to 6000lbs easily …wish I could find one with the 5.3 or 6.0 v8 in it…they’re always so expensive when I do find them for sale…who would pay $50,000 for an 08 trailblazer ss with 50,000 miles on it lol…

4.2 is a straight 6 or I6 like our 4.0 Jeeps and not a V6 but I think the front differential went bad and killed the CV axle as the unit looks dry and should be separate from the transmission . Everything is a common problem when it happens to you 😂 people never check these fluids and go 150k on a TB or Envoy without service and say it's common when it's the owners flaws not the vehicle. I would repair it and keep it if it's clean .

Basically the actuator bearing fails

Know it's been a year but for what it's worth cut the end of the cv axle so you have a axle stub to hold the wheel bearing and say fuck the 4wd

Good job but thats not a front wheel drive its 4x4 and that is the front diff. going thru the engine oil pan of a 4.2 or 5.3 engine.... Not alot of fun when they have been abused and neglected

Freaking A. That's my dilemma now on my gfs envoy Denali.

Put a new trission in it and sell it

That will be over 500 in parts

Just swap in a junkyard trans and get back on the road. Lol!

Great video, i can tell you know your shit.

🎯You sound like a copycat from vice grip garage 🤦

I need your help! I have a 2004 envoy and all of a sudden I heard a humming noise while driving. Not grinding! It started on the right side then spread to left side. Drove for 10 days and got worse by each day. So loud and vibrating that I couldn’t drive past 55 mph. I even heard it at 5 mph. Took to mechanic and he tells me it’s not the hub assembly’s. There’s no play. Everything seems tight. What can it be? No banging, no grinding, but loud vibrating upon rotation of front tires. Mechanic thinks it’s the front diff. Doesn’t sound like a front diff to me. Totally sounds like bad hub assemblies

Just take the cv joints out and take them apart and just put the shaft part back through the wheel bearing , then put it in two wheel drive and make a two wheel drive out of it.

Just take the cv joints out and take them apart and just put the shaft part back through the wheel bearing , then put it in two wheel drive and make a two wheel drive out of it.