Help diagnose axle noise (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Threads
112
Messages
558
Location
Provo, Utah
I have had a noise in my front end for a little while. At first it wasn't all that noticeable, but lately it has gotten to be rather loud and alarming. It's a '91 FJ80. I was hoping someone has come across a similar noise and could give me an idea what I should be looking for as I tear into it. For background, the brake pads are brand new EBC greens, the rotors are DBA Powerstop and are not warped, the calipers have been completely rebuilt using all new parts, the rear brakes have new shoes, springs, adjusters, and wheel cylinders. The noise is definitely rotational (isn't there when stopped, gets louder/faster as I drive). The noise also seems independent of braking (applying brake doesn't affect the noise at all until the vehicle comes to a stop). The front axle was rebuilt ~20,000 miles ago with all new bearings and birfs. The knuckles are both well-greased with moly grease and are not leaking. The noise seems to be loudest at the right front wheel. I am attaching a youtube video I made of the noise. I know it is a little quiet, but you can hear the sound if you turn the volume up a bit. Thanks for any help!

 
Does anyone have a noise like this or want to hazard a guess about what it might be?
 
Can you duplicate the sound just by getting the front right off the ground and turning it by hand? Might help you zero in on it.
 
I tried that with and without the tire on. I can't duplicate the noise when there is no weight on the wheel. Makes diagnosis more difficult. I am just going to tear it down to the spindle and check the wheel bearings and spindle. Hopefully I won't need a new spindle.
 
That'd be exactly what to do. Check for loose spindle nuts, grooved washer behind the nuts, and wonky wear of the brass spindle bushing. Also look closely for uneven wear where the bearing races seat on the spindle itself.
 
I have had a noise in my front end for a little while. At first it wasn't all that noticeable, but lately it has gotten to be rather loud and alarming. It's a '91 FJ80. I was hoping someone has come across a similar noise and could give me an idea what I should be looking for as I tear into it. For background, the brake pads are brand new EBC greens, the rotors are DBA Powerstop and are not warped, the calipers have been completely rebuilt using all new parts, the rear brakes have new shoes, springs, adjusters, and wheel cylinders. The noise is definitely rotational (isn't there when stopped, gets louder/faster as I drive). The noise also seems independent of braking (applying brake doesn't affect the noise at all until the vehicle comes to a stop). The front axle was rebuilt ~20,000 miles ago with all new bearings and birfs. The knuckles are both well-greased with moly grease and are not leaking. The noise seems to be loudest at the right front wheel. I am attaching a youtube video I made of the noise. I know it is a little quiet, but you can hear the sound if you turn the volume up a bit. Thanks for any help!


That's a U-joint. Grease the u-joints and slip yokes and see if it goes away.

Easy-peasy.

If it's not that then it's a brake squealer dragging. They were not properly set when the new parts were installed.
 
I'll grease the ujoints and slip yokes and see what it does. It's just odd because it really seems to be coming from the right front wheel. I know it's not the pads. It started on my last set of pads. A piston was sticking a bit, causing the brakes to wear unevenly. That's one reason I completely rebuilt the calipers with new parts. I DID have to file a backing plate on one of the new EBC pads to get them to slide smoothly on the pins, but the wear indicators were fine.
 
Okay. Time for some updates. I removed and greased the front and rear drive shafts. The front one has newish joints in it, but the rear had one ujoint that was a little crunchy (not terrible, but time to replace in the near future). A quick test drive revealed that the noise is still there. I pulled apart the front hub down to the birf to examine things. It looks like it just got rebuilt yesterday. Everything is clean and well-greased. No obvious signs of wear on the spindle inside or out. The only thing I could find is that the wheel bearings were pretty loose. I estimate the inner lock nut was maybe ~10 foot pounds? I am going to regrease the bearings and put everything back together using about 25-30 pounds of preload on the inner bearing. Would a loose but otherwise decent looking wheel bearing cause the noise I have?
 
Okay. Time for some updates. I removed and greased the front and rear drive shafts. The front one has newish joints in it, but the rear had one ujoint that was a little crunchy (not terrible, but time to replace in the near future). A quick test drive revealed that the noise is still there. I pulled apart the front hub down to the birf to examine things. It looks like it just got rebuilt yesterday. Everything is clean and well-greased. No obvious signs of wear on the spindle inside or out. The only thing I could find is that the wheel bearings were pretty loose. I estimate the inner lock nut was maybe ~10 foot pounds? I am going to regrease the bearings and put everything back together using about 25-30 pounds of preload on the inner bearing. Would a loose but otherwise decent looking wheel bearing cause the noise I have?
Yes. It would cause the rotor to contact the backing plate.
 
I don't have backing plates anymore (upgraded to bigger rotors and cut the old plates down for spacers). I suppose it could cause some other issues. We'll see when I get it back together (tomorrow hopefully). I also have a nasty leak on my tcase rear output. Gotta wait for parts before I tear into that to fix it.
 
edit: wrong thread.
Yes a worn bearing and a loose rotor nut would cause rubbing somewhere. And that's what I'm picking up on in the video. A metal on metal rubbing.
 
Last edited:
.. I also have a nasty leak on my tcase rear output. Gotta wait for parts before I tear into that to fix it.
Are you convinced it isn't the speedo cable connection to the t-case? Admittedly not sure it's capable of a 'nasty leak' tho.
 
I don't have backing plates anymore (upgraded to bigger rotors and cut the old plates down for spacers). I suppose it could cause some other issues. We'll see when I get it back together (tomorrow hopefully). I also have a nasty leak on my tcase rear output. Gotta wait for parts before I tear into that to fix it.
Loose wheel bearings can also cause the brake pads to drag and possibly make the squealer drag and make that noise.

Could also be the star washer grinding away inside the hub.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom