Rear passenger side axle pop, pop, pop, ... only at low speed (1 Viewer)

[Blacks Bart]

Started yesterday after a weekend getaway including 40 miles of mostly mild off road including occasional 4L. It's a stock 1996 daily driver with 250K. Never had drive chain problems. I did not (or could not?) hear the popping until getting back on pavement. I nursed it ahead some miles through half a dozen traffic lights until I found a stretch of road to diagnose.

I parked in, did a visual inspection, found nothing, got back in and it did not come back. I drove 150 miles home.

The pop I heard and felt was on every axle rotation during accel/decel/low-speed, only on the PAX side, and goes away above 15-20 mph. It was not a clunk... more of a pop. The pop was almost like a rock in the tread except you could feel a bit of "back pressure" being released each time it popped.

Any ideas?

Bart

 

[jonheld]

Lug nuts tight?

 

[Manuelsv]

Would a birfield make a single pop sound or pop-pop-pop while turning? I have a single poping sound when I turn.. Seems like a birfield would be an ongoing pop related to the speed of travel not a single pop?

 

[GreatWhtCrewmax]

Maybe a sway bar bushing failed?

 

[BILT4ME]

I'm betting a U-Joint, probably on the rear.

Once you get over a certain speed, they seem to go silent until they get bad enough that they start vibrating.

Especially after doing some off roading, where you may have been pushing it with a bit more torque than its used to. Also, the drive line will be doing more articulation which will change the wear pattern slightly and may have cause the crud to get into the bearings and will now eat the u-joints.

Grease the DS front and rear and see if the noise goes away.

 

[Natty]

prob a sticking u-joint, may feel tight under the truck but when braking would sound like a slight ping or a popping sound...

 

[Blacks Bart]

I'm betting a U-Joint, probably on the rear.

Once you get over a certain speed, they seem to go silent until they get bad enough that they start vibrating.

Especially after doing some off roading, where you may have been pushing it with a bit more torque than its used to. Also, the drive line will be doing more articulation which will change the wear pattern slightly and may have cause the crud to get into the bearings and will now eat the u-joints.

Grease the DS front and rear and see if the noise goes away.

Lug nuts tight?

Not Lug nuts!

 

[Blacks Bart]

Would a birfield make a single pop sound or pop-pop-pop while turning? I have a single poping sound when I turn.. Seems like a birfield would be an ongoing pop related to the speed of travel not a single pop?

I did not test during turning. Pop is only on the rear.