Driveshaft/T-case noise/vibration/growl

[White Sheep]

If you are running a dc rear shaft, swap for your original. Reason being that now that your transfer case flange and your rear diff flange are closer to the same angle, a dc shaft actually wont help. A standard shaft enjoys similar angles at both ends.

For the longest I thought I was running DC rear, but I'm not. It's just a Tetton rear DS.

 

[White Sheep]

Not the best picture. It's pretty bright out.

My driveway is a hill.

 

[Surfdc]

Try pulling it and drive around to confirm it is the rear shaft.

 

[White Sheep]

CDL before pulling? And how long can you drive without it?

 

[77mustard40]

CDL engaged to drive with rear DS removed, I left CDL open to remove the DS on mine (chocked front wheels in the garage) which allowed me to rotate the shaft to get all the bolts. If you are pulling yours on the sloped drive be careful as it will roll with CDL open and the rear tires off the ground. I wouldn't worry about driving it a couple of days to see what you have although you will know if this is it pretty quickly.

 

[White Sheep]

Rear DS off and CDL engaged.

Drove around, no noisy growl. Put a buddy's original rear DS in and immediate vibration (I now know I do not have vibration), and horrible growl.

Now should I point at the output on the transfer case?

 

[Squash]

You need to clean the slip yoke as I read no growl with rear DS removed.
If the rear is hydrolocked your ds is basically a steel rod, yoke needs to slide in and out as body weight and road conditions bounce the rear end.
Being lazy I just remove the zerk and spray penetrating oil or brake clean into zerk hole and then go for a ride. Later reinstall zerk and regressed.

 

[White Sheep]

You need to clean the slip yoke as I read no growl with rear DS removed.
If the rear is hydrolocked your ds is basically a steel rod, yoke needs to slide in and out as body weight and road conditions bounce the rear end.
Being lazy I just remove the zerk and spray penetrating oil or brake clean into zerk hole and then go for a ride. Later reinstall zerk and regressed.

I hear what your saying. I still concerned myself a noob, so when I get a min I'll Google the DS to look at all the places you mentioned.

We did give the DS a quick look over once out. Things seemed fine and working properly.

Jiggled and twisted (what I'm going to call before looking up) the back pinion on the transfer case. Firm and smooth. The rear pinion on the axel was easy jiggled and twisted. Sound a bit "scratchy". Did the same on my buddy's 80, and his rear was a bit "smoother". Didn't know if it was because I'm re-geared

 

[fourtrax]

who set your gears up?

 

[White Sheep]

who set your gears up?

A place in Kansas the "specialize" in off-road vehicles. But it was making the noise before then. . this is one of the reasons I re-geared thinking the gears were grinding.

 

[thatcabledude]

I have pretty close to the same issue. When cruising along any amount of lift on throttle input gives me a strong growl for a few seconds and then again for about a second after going back on the throttle.

My rear pinion was toast for about a year and chalked it up to that. I have Landtank lower arms, adjustable uppers (set to stock length) Pinion angle is good.

Finally got around to dealing with rebuilding the 3rd due to the wobbly pinion. I splurged and sent the diffs to ZUK for re-gear. He sent me pics of the pinion bearing and it was ate up pretty bad. When I plugged the rebuilt diffs back in the growl remained, but there was a slight improvement. I was very surprised because the amount of play in the rear pinion was ridiculous and I expected tremendous improvement.

Back to troubleshooting... Ujoints good. During inspection realized the slip yoke had some up and down/lateral play. Replaced the driveshaft with new OEM. Huge improvement, but it’s still there. Drives smooth as butter and quiet, but as soon as you let up on the throttle to coast that growl/vibe hits for a few seconds. Annoying!

I replaced the output bearing in the t-case while I was changing the seal about 60k miles ago. The factory bearing (260k at the time) was pristine so for this one to be bad this quick is a surprise. My hypothesis is that the driveshaft and the lateral play it had along with me driving on that wobbly ass pinion for a year beat up the output bearing in the t-case. I plan to swap it as soon as I can. If you don’t have this sorted out before then I will update with what I find.

 

[White Sheep]

I have pretty close to the same issue. When cruising along any amount of lift on throttle input gives me a strong growl for a few seconds and then again for about a second after going back on the throttle.

My rear pinion was toast for about a year and chalked it up to that. I have Landtank lower arms, adjustable uppers (set to stock length) Pinion angle is good.

Finally got around to dealing with rebuilding the 3rd due to the wobbly pinion. I splurged and sent the diffs to ZUK for re-gear. He sent me pics of the pinion bearing and it was ate up pretty bad. When I plugged the rebuilt diffs back in the growl remained, but there was a slight improvement. I was very surprised because the amount of play in the rear pinion was ridiculous and I expected tremendous improvement.

Back to troubleshooting... Ujoints good. During inspection realized the slip yoke had some up and down/lateral play. Replaced the driveshaft with new OEM. Huge improvement, but it’s still there. Drives smooth as butter and quiet, but as soon as you let up on the throttle to coast that growl/vibe hits for a few seconds. Annoying!

I replaced the output bearing in the t-case while I was changing the seal about 60k miles ago. The factory bearing (260k at the time) was pristine so for this one to be bad this quick is a surprise. My hypothesis is that the driveshaft and the lateral play it had along with me driving on that wobbly ass pinion for a year beat up the output bearing in the t-case. I plan to swap it as soon as I can. If you don’t have this sorted out before then I will update with what I find.

Is it a "simple" changing the bearing, or is there a whole ordeal of things to go with it?

 

[thatcabledude]

Is it a "simple" changing the bearing, or is there a whole ordeal of things to go with it?

Not quite “simple”. You’ve gotta split the rear of the t-case housing and deal with some snap rings, but it’s really not that bad. You don’t have to remove the t-case from the truck or anything.

 

[White Sheep]

So would I be looking for these two part numbers for:

Bearings: 90363-50005

Seal: 90311-58008

 

[thatcabledude]

So would I be looking for these two part numbers for:

Bearings: 90363-50005

Seal: 90311-58008

That looks correct to me. And a tube of the orangish red colored FIPG if you’re anal about using OEM gasket maker. Lol

 

[BILT4ME]

That looks correct to me. And a tube of the orangish red colored FIPG if you’re anal about using OEM gasket maker. Lol

Make sure it's not expired.
Otherwise you can use "The Right Stuff" only in black, and only the Cheese Wiz can.
The Ultra Black is NOT the same and the gray stuff in the can is not for oil contact.

 

[White Sheep]

Make sure it's not expired.
Otherwise you can use "The Right Stuff" only in black, and only the Cheese Wiz can.
The Ultra Black is NOT the same and the gray stuff in the can is not for oil contact.

I think I have "The Right Stuff" laying around. I remember you talking about it before.

 

[White Sheep]

Little off topic. Why now with CDL on and no rear DS, I'm getting better gas mileage?

 

[BILT4ME]

Little off topic. Why now with CDL on and no rear DS, I'm getting better gas mileage?

It's in your head. Not real.

You're driving more carefully because you subconsciously think something is going to break.

 

[White Sheep]

It's in your head. Not real.

You're driving more carefully because you subconsciously think something is going to break.

True. I am.