Hey guys, I suspect I've hurt the front diff, but there are some confounding factors so I wanted to get your opinions before tearing into it, as it's our only vehicle right now.
Some background that may or may not be related:
'04lx, mostly stock with 33' AT3Ws
-Since buying the truck 2 years ago the steering pump has been noisy at full lock and occasionally notchy when hot(I have flushed the fluid)
-one of the upper ball joints just started squawking a couple weeks ago
Ok, so last month my wife and I bought a house in VT, last week we got our first big snowstorm. We literally just moved in from NYC, so I have not purchased a snowblower yet. Luckily our driveway is technically a town road, but this meant I needed to get the truck into the garage and out of the way(and quickly, as the plow was here). I got a bit stuck on some icy hardpack, but made it in. The next day I drove a mile to the shops with no issue, but never got it above 20. Yesterday my wife drives the half hour to target, and texts me that it is shaking above 50. I assumed at the time this is wheel imbalance due to snow/ice in the spokes, and this is seemingly confirmed when it goes away shortly later.
Later that day I need to do a longer drive, and about 90 miles in, on cruise but going up a reasonably steep grade, I notice a bit of a vibration as as well. Getting on the gas to induce it, it does seem to be related to how much power is being put through the drivetrain. At low speeds accelerating hard, it results in a sharp but not sustained pull of the steering wheel to the right, ie pulls briefly then returns straight. Going slowly up a steep grade, a cyclic vibration accompanied by a slight pull on the wheel can be felt. The suspicious thing is that it seems 100% fine under normal, low-medium load situations, not a hint of vibration or sound, and no grinding noises that I can hear even with the vibration comes.
So my gut tells me that I may have sheared a tooth or two off of the ring gear, with the symptoms being exacerbated by a worn rack, resulting in the pull alongside the vibration as torque is interrupted to the front axle. But open to other ideas here as I need to wait for some gear oil to be delivered before I can pull the diff cover to check.
Now on to options. As you might imagine having just bought and furnished our first home, money is a bit tight. We also only have this car right now, and this is absolutely a place where car downtime is gonna be pretty painful/potentially dangerous in a power outage(no cell service). So, in the short term:
-Thinking of going 2wd to keep the truck in service and avoid the wife getting stranded if it decides to grenade completely. Near as I can tell just requires pulling the front driveshaft, removing the drive flanges and covering the open hubs with something. I don't actually have the hub caps, so open to suggestions here. Also are there speed limitations for the CDL which would then need to be engaged? I seem to remember something about it disengaging above a certain speed.
-Before this had also been considering the part time conversion, could get a headstart on that by ordering/installing the hub lockers, and have a 'permanent' 2wd solution while I save for options below.
For the permanent repair:
-Just order a new whole front diff, going rate seems to be ~1400-1500, painful but probably the simplest option
-Find a used front diff, probably ideal from cost/benefit, may take a while to find one
-Replace ring and pinion, cheaper but more error prone and not something I've done before. Don't have a dial indicator here. Also potential spider damage from gear chunks could mean replacing more than just the R&P
-go the 'while I'm at it' route and upgrade, ARB, new R&P etc. costly, but more rewarding. Probably not something I could swing in the near term, if I did the part time, could save for it/build it out of the car while we still use it.
So that's it, would love some second opinions, both on the diagnosis and options. Thanks guys.
Some background that may or may not be related:
'04lx, mostly stock with 33' AT3Ws
-Since buying the truck 2 years ago the steering pump has been noisy at full lock and occasionally notchy when hot(I have flushed the fluid)
-one of the upper ball joints just started squawking a couple weeks ago
Ok, so last month my wife and I bought a house in VT, last week we got our first big snowstorm. We literally just moved in from NYC, so I have not purchased a snowblower yet. Luckily our driveway is technically a town road, but this meant I needed to get the truck into the garage and out of the way(and quickly, as the plow was here). I got a bit stuck on some icy hardpack, but made it in. The next day I drove a mile to the shops with no issue, but never got it above 20. Yesterday my wife drives the half hour to target, and texts me that it is shaking above 50. I assumed at the time this is wheel imbalance due to snow/ice in the spokes, and this is seemingly confirmed when it goes away shortly later.
Later that day I need to do a longer drive, and about 90 miles in, on cruise but going up a reasonably steep grade, I notice a bit of a vibration as as well. Getting on the gas to induce it, it does seem to be related to how much power is being put through the drivetrain. At low speeds accelerating hard, it results in a sharp but not sustained pull of the steering wheel to the right, ie pulls briefly then returns straight. Going slowly up a steep grade, a cyclic vibration accompanied by a slight pull on the wheel can be felt. The suspicious thing is that it seems 100% fine under normal, low-medium load situations, not a hint of vibration or sound, and no grinding noises that I can hear even with the vibration comes.
So my gut tells me that I may have sheared a tooth or two off of the ring gear, with the symptoms being exacerbated by a worn rack, resulting in the pull alongside the vibration as torque is interrupted to the front axle. But open to other ideas here as I need to wait for some gear oil to be delivered before I can pull the diff cover to check.
Now on to options. As you might imagine having just bought and furnished our first home, money is a bit tight. We also only have this car right now, and this is absolutely a place where car downtime is gonna be pretty painful/potentially dangerous in a power outage(no cell service). So, in the short term:
-Thinking of going 2wd to keep the truck in service and avoid the wife getting stranded if it decides to grenade completely. Near as I can tell just requires pulling the front driveshaft, removing the drive flanges and covering the open hubs with something. I don't actually have the hub caps, so open to suggestions here. Also are there speed limitations for the CDL which would then need to be engaged? I seem to remember something about it disengaging above a certain speed.
-Before this had also been considering the part time conversion, could get a headstart on that by ordering/installing the hub lockers, and have a 'permanent' 2wd solution while I save for options below.
For the permanent repair:
-Just order a new whole front diff, going rate seems to be ~1400-1500, painful but probably the simplest option
-Find a used front diff, probably ideal from cost/benefit, may take a while to find one
-Replace ring and pinion, cheaper but more error prone and not something I've done before. Don't have a dial indicator here. Also potential spider damage from gear chunks could mean replacing more than just the R&P
-go the 'while I'm at it' route and upgrade, ARB, new R&P etc. costly, but more rewarding. Probably not something I could swing in the near term, if I did the part time, could save for it/build it out of the car while we still use it.
So that's it, would love some second opinions, both on the diagnosis and options. Thanks guys.
