Rear End Roar

[CarmMontana]

UPDATE: I have no idea what to do... I have done what maximum said and I can't seem to find any reason the Truck is all over the place. As goes the roar I think that the tracking and the noise might be related. I am wondering if there is any way that my differential is messed up as it seems like when I turn into a left turn the truck pulls right hard and when I turn into a right turn it pulls left hard... The doesn't make a bit of sense to me, one way or the other and I think I could do some process of elimination but this is killing me. When I let go of the wheel it pulls left hard.... as goes the noise it sounds like it is in both the Diff and the Tranny. I have checked all the fluids and they seem fine, are there any bearings in the tranny that are known to go out and cause a roar when you let off the gas? Any info anyone has that may shine light on this would be great. I want to drive my cruiser but it just scares me how unpredictable it is on the road.

Carm

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! The steering symptoms sound like you have a locker in the front and the hubs are engaged/stuck. It will always want to go straight when you are turning. If this is happening, it might also make a lot of driveshaft noise at speed, even if the transfer case is in 2wd. John

 

[S4Cruiser]

I have the same noise on deceleration, but do have an auto locker in the rear (Powertrax No-slip version).

Does this make the noise more normal if the rear is locked or does it have no bearing on the noise?

Also, what is the worse that could happen if this noise is left alone and the truck is driven? I know that it might wear out the rear and eventually need to be rebuilt but is there any driving danger; i.e. rear end locking up while driving 55mph, etc?

Don't mean to hijack...but atleast it's the same subject.

 

[CarmMontana]

No worries on the hijack, those are great questions that I would also love to know. I am taking my truck to an alignment shop today to check caster and get the wheels at least somewhat aligned, we'll see. I will update as soon as I find something that points to my noise issue. I really think that the noise is coming from the tranny after I dropped the drive shaft from my rear axle....

S4, I have a buddy that has a lockrite in his 40 and he has no issue with noise so i do not think it should play into it. But maybe I am wrong, no experience with a locker.

 

[CarmMontana]

UPDATE: So the alignment shop wouldn't align my truck, they said I had two Tie Rods out and that my steering box is messed up, that part really sucks because I dropped 200 on that thing buying it from a mud member. I guess I will need to get that stuff replaced before i can do anything else. They did tell me my caster was off and that I needed to shim it, so I will get those in there too. I guess as of right now that is at least a step into the right direction. I guess I will get those fixed and then start in on my noise issue... so many things to do but so little time... Would those parts cause my steering to be all over the place?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I'm confused. Is this thread about noise in the rear diff, or about wandering steering?

If your caster is not in specs, the steering will then to wander and be hard to control on grooved highway and under hard braking. Ask the alignment shop for the measurement and post it here.

The roar in the rear end---Did you ever pull the plug and look for metal as Poser suggested? If your differential is original, it is likely the pinion bearing at the output is bad. That is a very common problem. If the bearings have been serviced(replaced) then you probably have an incorrect gear set-up and you need to go to a differential shop. Casually maintained Cruiser rear diffs seem to go about 200k and then need the rear diff rebuilt. I'd see this as normal maintenance.


Cronic-You have a major problem. The stake nut does not magically back off and cause noise. If it does, you can't fix the problem by simply tightening it up. Tightening up the nut changes the preload on the pinion bearings, often requires a new crush sleeve etc. You need to pull that diff and go to a competent differential shop and have it set up again. If you continue to drive it, you risk ruining it completely. And by the way-if the stake nut becomes loose, and backs off completely, you are in for some sudden, major and expensive carnage. Do not ignore this problem.