Front end noise... (1 Viewer)

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hobbes

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Hi all,

I just bought a '97 80 here in Virginia with 87k miles. It has lockers and seems very well maintained by a Toyota dealer (Toyota belts, hoses, anti-freeze, new factory battery, etc). Overall, I love it (even the "D" light works and as well as the CD player!).

Now for the bad news. It has a very noticable noise that appears to be coming from the front end. It makes the Cruiser sound like its shoed with a mud tire or two up front. The "hum" only varies with speed and has a slight vibration associated with it. It does not vary turning left, right, acclerating, decelerating, changing engine speed, or slipping the tranny in neutral. Outside and vehicle temp seem to have no effect either. Current tires are Michelin LTXs that have about 30% tread left. All tires are the same size and seem in good stead. The reason I'm doubting it's tire noise is that it doesn't vary with the surface being driven on (asphalt, concrete) plus the tires are LTXs and I can hear "normal" tire noise in the background. There is oil in the diff, and no grease leaking out the ends of the wheels. The CDL and Ft and Rr lockers all work fine. I've already ordered parts from CDan for the Birf re-pack (along with a FSM). Am I going to be pulling the third member as well? Has anyone heard of a hurt front diff on an 80 w/ 87k miles? I'd like to plan now because I'm getting short on time before going overseas (military) and I need to get the vehicle sound prior to giving it to my family.

I've searched the archives.

Thanks a bunch....John
 
That sounds like what landtank just went through with dry spindle bushings.
 
Wow, that was fast. I've read that post, but I'm going to re-read it. Landtank's was a bit intermintant, welll it started out like that. Of course, I wouldn't have been around for the starting phase.
 
Some times a failing U-joint can give those symptoms :p.

Wayne S :cheers:
 
The U-joint "seems" tight. Dunno. :-[

Wanye, I'm heading out on the Wasp, perhaps you've heard of her....

John
 
CDan, I re-read the post. It still sounds to me like Landtank's sound was intermittant and more dramatic. I think I may go with a set of bearings to try to CMA.

Any checks I can to to the third member now?

Thanks...John
 
hobbes,

I was First Sargeant :mad: of an infrantry rifle company that conducted some special helo ops off the USS Bellewood (LPH) many years ago. The Wasp is a LPH, yes?

Wayne S :cheers:
 
Wayne, yep. Do you remember the name of any of the Harrier pilots you floated with.

John
 
Hobbes, if you're going to put in the bearings I wouldn't stop there the spindle comes off with 8 bolts. Pull the spindle and check out the bushing. It has several grooves in it and they need to be cleaned and lubed. From there you can see the birfield and do a visual on how that is looking as far as the amount of grease and any oil contamination. Don't worry about a spindle gasket. One of mine came apart fine the other was missing and a few minutes with an exacto knife and a sheet of gasket paper and you're in bussiness.
 
John,
instigator had a similar noise recently and posted pics of his wheel bearing races; they were shot. Check this thread.

Follow Rick's advice and either have new bearings on hand or be able to go get them if needed. Repack and set the preload. Check the preload in a week or two as several people have found their bearings lost the preload and had to be adjusted a second time. Since you'll be unavailable, I would recommend the second check.

-B-
 
I called Autozone, Pepboys, and Napa. None of them said they carried the Timkens or Koyos for the Cruiser. A local bearing shop said they could order the bearings if I could get the Timken numbers for the bearings and races. CDan posted "Rick, the numbers are indeed correct and Koyo. Timken shows up as a choice starting in August 94 production. From then on, both are listed as options. The 90368-45087-77 lists for $43.85 each and the 90368-49084-77 lists for $50.90 each." Does anyone know the Timken part numbers?

I think when I get my "packages" from Slee and CDan, the first thing I'll do is put in the CDL and pull the front driveshaft. That would isolate and u-joint problems. Which brings me back to the question of "has anyone heard of a u-joint failing in such a way as to result in vibration and noise that is continous (NOT intermittant) and varies only with speed"?

Thanks...John
 
hobbes before you do anything, jack up the truck and take off a wheel (choose one) and check if there is play in the hub. if so i'll bet you a doughnut its the wheel bearings.

my vibe would oscilate(sp) when driving straight but would be constant on a long left turn. good luck in tracking it down
 
The Toyota Timkins are 90080-36064, inner, and 90080-36067,outer. $36.72 and $30.47 respectivly (list price)


D-
 
here are the Timken part numbers

JLM104910 inner race
JLM104948 inner bearing
SET47 outer bearing and race

this is a set for one wheel. All the wheels take the same. Autozone had them locally. You might have better luck now with the Timken numbers.

All three were just over $26.00 :D
 
Hey, don't miss the basics, guys. Wayne mentioned a shaft joint, and his overview of the vehicle did not include "both drive shafts recently lubed" eh? Before I'd haul out the jack and tire tools, I would certainly spend 7 minutes and 30 seconds greasing the fittings. Be sure to note the rear shaft's spline grease fitting should only be greased until the shaft BEGINS to elongate. Stop, halt, desist, etc at that point.

THEN start with stuff you have to swing a wrench on, ya know????

DougM
 
Thanks for the input everyone. Landtank, I'm going to call AutoZone back tomorrow. They said their listings stopped in 1994, and that was only for the back bearings. They did say they carried no Timkens, but we'll see.

Thanks Doug. I've lube both driveshafts (repeatedly) and U-joints (once). All were dry when I bought the truck. So that may be something. I've gotten vibrations from a driveshaft before in my 40, but never a noise. The u-joint I had fail, I could change the vibs by accelerating and decelerating. Sort of a loading and unload stress. No luck here with that. Of course, I've never dealt with an AWD system...

john
 
I had to put bearings in my 96 at 87K. Although I knew what it sounded like because I went through the same thing with my F#$d truck I sold to get my Cruiser.

HTH,
 
Landtank, is "set 47" really "JLM 104947" or "Set 47"? I'm not working with the brightest lights here....

Thanks...john
 
hobbes these are the bearing no.s i used

Inner wheel bearings, Timken #JLM104948, race #JLM104910

Outer wheel bearings, Timken #LM102949 , race #LM102910

i got the no.s from a thread that either -B- started or relied to about the total parts list for a front end rebuild
 

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