I like to get the rear axle on jackstand with the wife driving it in first and second gear, at different rpm and playing with the brake , this way i can look and listen from closer and tell her what to do 
Quick help: trying to pinpoint clunking near rear diff
- Thread starter Last Flight Out
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I didn’t read the whole thread, but that would be my very first suspicion.
Another test, since you have the rear drive shaft off (I think) you can also raise up the the rear so that both tires are off the ground. rotate your tires by hand (this simulates low rpm) and listen/feel if you have any *clunks* while rotating. Check both sides on the rear. Rotate in one direction, then the other direction. Then also rotated back/forth in small movents.
I think you said the diff was good, but it's a really easy test to help pin-point if it's wheel bearings, diffs, or something else besides your rear (like driveshafts, t-case or transmission)
I think you said the diff was good, but it's a really easy test to help pin-point if it's wheel bearings, diffs, or something else besides your rear (like driveshafts, t-case or transmission)
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- #24
Diff is fine and spins freely with no noise…can spin with one finger. It’s that smooth. It’s not the diff…or the ebrake.
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- #25
Honestly, I have no idea and going to take it to Peter Merriam in Duluth to get it corrected. But I am going to say that I had another reputable shop in the area do a full reseal and refresh on that transfer case in 2024 - regardless of the job they did, I’m struggling to find out why something has happened within 2000 miles of use 1 after sinking a ton of money into that refresh job. This will be the 3rd time something has happened from work they did and I’m just never going back.Brother, the clunking noise in my 40's tranny turned out to be the high gear missing a few teeths --
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Hopefully yours is something simpler.
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- #27
Good suggestion (as always!)
We are all just people - and make mistakes. Dave's Auto just had a very expensive engine in - few hundred miles - lots of high $ parts - turns out the builder didn't torque some internal bolts (also not dabbed marked like other bolts were) so no upper end oil pressure.
Parts fail - internal stress can take time to manifest - nothing is perfect on the quantum scale.
Maybe the shop missed something or it just broke at this time.
Parts fail - internal stress can take time to manifest - nothing is perfect on the quantum scale.
Maybe the shop missed something or it just broke at this time.
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- #29
Agreed, I understand that things happen…but things have happened in previous services with them. I get it…we have old trucks. And things happen.
This is exactly why I do my own work - no one cares about my stuff more than me. I don't have a machine shop to do serious heavy duty work, but I have hand tools, books and online resources to figure out how to keep my stuff running.
Time to tear into it and see what went wrong.
Time to tear into it and see what went wrong.
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- #31
Quick video from this past weekend. Interested in feedback if this even sounds normal.
No does not sound normal to me. How do the spines look? Is there a lot of play in the shaft when you try to move it up/down or left to right?
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- #33
That’s my plan this weekend…once I have the DS off, I’ll check for play and look at splines.
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- #35
Ohhh right…good idea. Need to drain first? Or is the side cover above the normal fluid line?
Fish the hole with a good magnet on a stiff wire. Powdered metal or chunks of teeth.
Definitely not normal. That's already too much noise with such little movement and low power (doing things by hand). Multiply that by 100x when it's receiving power from the engine.
If there's metal damage to the gears or anything else inside, the oil will let you know. It'll be very obvious. Your oil will look like it has flakes of glitter in it.
Drain it, hope for no glitter flakes (either silver or gold color depending what is damaged)
Still remove the side cover after you drain and get a peak inside.
I'm curious to see how the side gears look like. I wonder if they put the drive gear and pto gear, or added the spacer to make up for a missing pto gear(which is normal). If it's just one drive gear without a spacer or pto gear, I can imagine that it's riding back and forth on the output shaft from the transmission going into the t-case.
I don't know if you can still drive like that and if the vehicle would still be able to drive forward /reverse. Just brain storming here. There's also suppose to be a spacer that gets sandwiched in between the transmission and t-case housing. Could be missing or wrong size, who knows.
not sure what it is, but keep digging. You'll be able to rotate the drive shaft and look inside the t-case from the side and see if there's anything "weird"
If there's metal damage to the gears or anything else inside, the oil will let you know. It'll be very obvious. Your oil will look like it has flakes of glitter in it.
Drain it, hope for no glitter flakes (either silver or gold color depending what is damaged)
Still remove the side cover after you drain and get a peak inside.
I'm curious to see how the side gears look like. I wonder if they put the drive gear and pto gear, or added the spacer to make up for a missing pto gear(which is normal). If it's just one drive gear without a spacer or pto gear, I can imagine that it's riding back and forth on the output shaft from the transmission going into the t-case.
I don't know if you can still drive like that and if the vehicle would still be able to drive forward /reverse. Just brain storming here. There's also suppose to be a spacer that gets sandwiched in between the transmission and t-case housing. Could be missing or wrong size, who knows.
not sure what it is, but keep digging. You'll be able to rotate the drive shaft and look inside the t-case from the side and see if there's anything "weird"
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- #39
Thanks man. Really really good advice here and about to take him out for a neighborhood drive in 4-Hi (rear DS off)….assuming I can’t get it out of the garage or grenade the entire case, I’ll report back.
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- #40
…and @DesertFJ40 , this is the side panel, correct? It’s a pic from a 60, but same case I assume.
