Help me figure out what I broke

[TRM07]

I’m trying to figure out what I broke this weekend. I heard some loud clicking noises at the end of the last trail we did. As I was limping it back to the parking lot we went through some water and the clicking stopped. At the time I thought the stock joint on my front driveshaft was the problem since the boot finally gave up. At the parking lot looking it over, the boot had ripped off completely. I figured the boot had flew off at some point limping it back, and it was hitting something as the shaft spun.

In going over the front end today, i lifted the front end up and spun the tires. So I have a d30 with 4.88s and an arb locker. With the locker engaged, both wheels spin together as well as the driveshaft. With the locked disengaged the tires spin opposite but not at the same rate. When I spun the driver side, the passenger side spun opposite as it should with the arb disengaged, but at a slower rate. A couple times the driver side could spin half a revolution before the passenger tire moved. Did I break an axle shaft?

I did not have time tonight to put it on the lift and pull the axle apart, but I will in the next few days. I’m planning on removing the diff cover and pulling the shafts to check the shafts as well as the locker and ring gear / pinion. I just want some opinions as to what broke so I have a some idea what I’m going to be getting into.

Thanks for the help!

[ShutterBug]

4.88 is quite steep for a d30. Hope it's nothing too expensive.

Without the locker engaged, the tires spinning at different rates could be normal. That's exactly how an open differential should work.

The clicking noise could have been the boot, but it is certainly worth opening the diff and checking for pieces parts.

[Lighting Guy]

Clicking could be a sign of U-joints... those look good on the axle shafts and drive shaft?