2006 vinson 500 4x4 auto 25" tires almost 2" of lift. Bought it last week with 1200 miles on it, very nice shape and WELL taken care of.

4x4 was engaged low range and getting on it pretty hard to pull me through my shallow water hole. No warnings or signs something Snapped in the front end. NOT a cv and NOT ring or pinion. there is and was no grinding or noise except for one loud pop and lost front drive. and also not the front driveshaft. I jacked it up and both front tires turn with each other as normal and there is nothing that seems to be wrong with that. however when 4x4 is "engaged" the front driveshaft does not turn when I turn the front tires. its not locked in. so what ever I broke is between the differential and the front driveshaft. Whats in there? I dont want to pull out unnecessary parts. I'm trying to narrow it down. to a specific shaft/fork/etc. help would be greatly appreciated.

 

FINAL BEVEL GEAR (FRONT)('~05/10) Suzuki Vinson 4WD (LT-A500F) 2006 OEM Parts - Cheap Cycle Parts

I had my king quad 400 front diff apart to change the front seal a couple weeks ago. While apart I learned how the diff works and engages. Mine has a cable that engaged it instead of the electronic. Other than that, the diffs look the same. If you look at the diagram above, part 17 butts up to part 24. Part 17 should spin all the time. When you engage 4wd, the fork (part 29) slides part 27 off of just 17 and onto both 17 and 24 and the front diff is now driving. I hate to say it, but I would say it is time to pull the front diff. I would guess you need to split the diff and see what parts 17, 24, 27, and 29 look like. Before doing this, I would get the whole quad off the ground, put the quad in neutral and 4wd and use your hand to turn the front drive shaft and make sure the front wheels aren't turning. If not, then pull the hubs, take out the half shafts, and out with the diff. To take out the half shafts, hold the end out by the hubs and then hold the green part up by the diff and do a quick short jerk the shafts pop out. If you try to just pull, they will not come out. Has to be a short quick motion. Once you have it out and split, you have to take out the snap ring (number 7) and then pull 17 out. I went to auto zone and loaned their slide hammer and a front diff axle puller to go on the end and I used that to pull it. That will allow you to see the quality of all those parts and splines. The parts to fix this aren't that expensive but you are looking at 5+ hours of labor. Suzuki rated changing my front seal as a 6.5 hour job and my local shot charges $80 per hour...I did it myself and only bought a $10 seal. I would suggest buying new seals, half shaft and main, to change while it is apart. If you are close to needing new wheel bearings, now is the time to change these as well as you need to pull the hubs to take the diff out. Let me know how things go and post back with other questions. I will help as much as possible!

 

Thinking more about this, you may have broken something in the dvc assembly (37) or the Internal parts it moves to actually engage the 4wd...parts 32 or 33....Not sure if you can remove 37 and turn 33 manually to see if the internals work...might be able to do that without pulling the differential.

 

Thanks for the positive feed back. I didnt get around to pull it out this evening but I'll make time tomorrow for sure. Hopefully its a part I can make again. As long as its not a splined shaft or an actual gear I should be able to fix it without spending a dime. But ya I jacked up all 4's last night and spun the driveshaft like you mentioned and also turned the tires. they are completely separated from each other. But I can assure you I will NOT put it back together the way it is from factory. If it breaks from what little stress I just put on it its not fit to ride. I bought it to play and have fun haha. not go to the mailbox and back. This is my 1st post on this forum so I've gotta get to learn how to upload pics and what not but I'll eventually post some pics of what ever is broke and the improvements I make lol. Lathes, mills, presses and a TIG machine can do wonders