OK My son and I are new to the 4runner world so be patient. We are gearheads and we race. Now to the problems and questions. I recently picked up a 2000 limited 4runner for his first rig. It has the big tires and 4.88 gears, etc. and has 4x4 with the front and rear lockers. The 4x4 was not engaging due to the transfer case and I have tested all that following the guidelines, etc. We also had lifted the front end to ensure the front locker was not engaged while we were messing with the rest of it. It was out of AWD and the front locker was not engaged.....As we were driving down the road at 50mph the truck felt like the left front brake engaged followed by a loud pop that caused the dash to jump about 6 inches it seemed! It was still driving after that, but we safely came to a stop. He turned right off the road and the front wheel started binding and jumping around. At this point the front end is locked up. I removed the front drive shaft to eliminate the transfer case. It was still spinning so it was not engaged in 4x4. Again the front locker was not engaged and the shifter had not been pulled back. Now when you jack up the front one wheel spins one way and the other spins the other way. Right after it happened I checked for excessive heat in the front diff. The cv joint was hotter than the front diff and the drivers side cv was hotter than the passenger side. I did not feel any excessive heat build up.

I am assuming this sounds like a carrier bolt or something came out and has wedged in the spider gears? Anyone have a similar experience with this? As in is this a common thing with these trucks? Thanks in advance.