Hi, I have been chasing a mystery noise while coasting for over a year now. At first, I had a gurgling noise from the front diff, and I replaced everything from the wheel bearings(haven’t replaced wheel bearings but those wouldn’t make that sound since they spin slower and the noise is coming from something that spins faster than my 38 in tires) to new birfs (I knew it wasn’t the issue, but they were clicking while turning), and new brass inserts that go in the spindle. That didn’t fix it, so I ignored it.
Three months later, I started on my 3-link build, so I also regeared. I took the front diff apart, and I was sure the noise was coming from there the pattern was really off, and my backlash was way off. So I put new gears in, got everything to spec, finished my 3-link, and got my stock driveshaft extended.
After that, I took it for a drive, and I hear this noise again.
The noise
So I get under the car, and the driveshaft angle is looking kind of steep. I’m thinking it’s the driveshaft, so I remove it and go for a drive and that loud noise is gone. But now I hear kind of a rubbing sound coming from the front (with no driveshaft).
I’m thinking it could be the non-broken-in gears, since they are brand new with a total of 2 miles on them. To be honest, I’m not really worried about that rubbing noise for now, because if it really is my front diff and I messed something up, I’ll just drive on it for now (since I was able to drive 4k miles on my really messed-up one) and just have Zuk take a look at it later and fix it.
But any ideas what that noise could be would be super helpful, since I’ve been chasing this problem for over a year now. I thought I fixed it, but clearly not.
Thank you in advance.
Also forgot to mention my car has more lift now with the 3link and my caster angle is higher and my axle is 2in more forward
Here is my front diff pattern
Three months later, I started on my 3-link build, so I also regeared. I took the front diff apart, and I was sure the noise was coming from there the pattern was really off, and my backlash was way off. So I put new gears in, got everything to spec, finished my 3-link, and got my stock driveshaft extended.
After that, I took it for a drive, and I hear this noise again.
The noise
So I get under the car, and the driveshaft angle is looking kind of steep. I’m thinking it’s the driveshaft, so I remove it and go for a drive and that loud noise is gone. But now I hear kind of a rubbing sound coming from the front (with no driveshaft).
I’m thinking it could be the non-broken-in gears, since they are brand new with a total of 2 miles on them. To be honest, I’m not really worried about that rubbing noise for now, because if it really is my front diff and I messed something up, I’ll just drive on it for now (since I was able to drive 4k miles on my really messed-up one) and just have Zuk take a look at it later and fix it.
But any ideas what that noise could be would be super helpful, since I’ve been chasing this problem for over a year now. I thought I fixed it, but clearly not.
Thank you in advance.
Also forgot to mention my car has more lift now with the 3link and my caster angle is higher and my axle is 2in more forward
Here is my front diff pattern
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