Transfer case whine

[SHIfTHEAD]

I'm trying to determine if the whine I'm hearing is normal or if it's 'now that I've heard it I listen for it all the time' kinda thing. The whine is only noticeable above about 50 mph, but is most annoying at about 70 mph. On really long trips it starts to drive me a bit crazy at the higher speeds, but I think that's largely because of funky harmonics in the cabin. It's got 193K on it and I've fairly recently changed the oil in it to see if that would help. No chunks came out and it was a small amount of grey paste on the magnet. Oil was pretty clean actually. One thing of note, this truck has been converted to a full time off road camping rig. The rear seating, both rows, have been removed and a bed platform has been built on one side with a fridge, seat, etc. back there. Also, right after I got it I went through the work of really getting rid of all the excess noise in the truck, so I laid down dynamat front to rear and stuffed rock wool in all the internal cavities. It's really pretty quiet now, which might be why I hear this so well. Anyway, it's just the right frequency to sound like a drill in my right ear driving down the road at about 70 mph.

So I'm trying to figure out if this whine is just the way these trucks are, esp with 200K on the clock, or my description sounds abnormal. And if the latter, how hard is a rebuild of the transfer case? Or should I look for a decent shop in the Charlotte area trusted to do this work?

 

[tmxmotorsports]

My 94 doesn't make that noise but I have another 94 stock as a rock it makes that noise

 

[TacoLand]

I just rebuilt and regeared mine a few months ago, it now makes the same whine. I've been assuming it was the mating surface of the new v. worn gears since it's running fine.

 

[VPP]

I'm trying to determine if the whine I'm hearing is normal or if it's 'now that I've heard it I listen for it all the time' kinda thing. The whine is only noticeable above about 50 mph, but is most annoying at about 70 mph. On really long trips it starts to drive me a bit crazy at the higher speeds, but I think that's largely because of funky harmonics in the cabin. It's got 193K on it and I've fairly recently changed the oil in it to see if that would help. No chunks came out and it was a small amount of grey paste on the magnet. Oil was pretty clean actually. One thing of note, this truck has been converted to a full time off road camping rig. The rear seating, both rows, have been removed and a bed platform has been built on one side with a fridge, seat, etc. back there. Also, right after I got it I went through the work of really getting rid of all the excess noise in the truck, so I laid down dynamat front to rear and stuffed rock wool in all the internal cavities. It's really pretty quiet now, which might be why I hear this so well. Anyway, it's just the right frequency to sound like a drill in my right ear driving down the road at about 70 mph.

So I'm trying to figure out if this whine is just the way these trucks are, esp with 200K on the clock, or my description sounds abnormal. And if the latter, how hard is a rebuild of the transfer case? Or should I look for a decent shop in the Charlotte area trusted to do this work?

TC noise or whine is normally associated with worn bearings (ball/tapered) or shafts where needle or roller bearings ride. Once the tolerances become to great with bearings/shafts, it allows gears to actually ride on each other causing the whine instead of properly meshing. You have enough miles that a TC refreshment may be warranted.

 

[Kernal]

How did you trace the whine to the transfer case?

When did the whine start ie: suddenly after ??? or slowly getting worse over XXX miles?

Does it change under load versus coast?

Is your truck lifted?

What weight gear oil are you running (diffs and transfer case)?

Have you lubed the slip yolks and U-joints recently?


You also stated that you "stuffed rock wool in all the internal cavities", where exactly did you stuff rock wool??

 

[tmxmotorsports]

How did you trace the whine to the transfer case?

When did the whine start ie: suddenly after ??? or slowly getting worse over XXX miles?

Does it change under load versus coast?

Is your truck lifted?

What weight gear oil are you running (diffs and transfer case)?

Have you lubed the slip yolks and U-joints recently?


You also stated that you "stuffed rock wool in all the internal cavities", where exactly did you stuff rock wool??

not in the tranfer case i think he is refering to the inside of the cabin area lol

 

[petegangies]

I'm trying to determine if the whine I'm hearing is normal or if it's 'now that I've heard it I listen for it all the time' kinda thing. The whine is only noticeable above about 50 mph, but is most annoying at about 70 mph. On really long trips it starts to drive me a bit crazy at the higher speeds, but I think that's largely because of funky harmonics in the cabin. It's got 193K on it and I've fairly recently changed the oil in it to see if that would help. No chunks came out and it was a small amount of grey paste on the magnet. Oil was pretty clean actually. One thing of note, this truck has been converted to a full time off road camping rig. The rear seating, both rows, have been removed and a bed platform has been built on one side with a fridge, seat, etc. back there. Also, right after I got it I went through the work of really getting rid of all the excess noise in the truck, so I laid down dynamat front to rear and stuffed rock wool in all the internal cavities. It's really pretty quiet now, which might be why I hear this so well. Anyway, it's just the right frequency to sound like a drill in my right ear driving down the road at about 70 mph.

So I'm trying to figure out if this whine is just the way these trucks are, esp with 200K on the clock, or my description sounds abnormal. And if the latter, how hard is a rebuild of the transfer case? Or should I look for a decent shop in the Charlotte area trusted to do this work?

I don't know if its my transfer case or not but I have a light whine a those speeds but only noticeable when on light throttle, it disappears with heavier throttle and coasting.

 

[SHIfTHEAD]

How did you trace the whine to the transfer case?

When did the whine start ie: suddenly after ??? or slowly getting worse over XXX miles?

Does it change under load versus coast?

Is your truck lifted?

What weight gear oil are you running (diffs and transfer case)?

Have you lubed the slip yolks and U-joints recently?


You also stated that you "stuffed rock wool in all the internal cavities", where exactly did you stuff rock wool??

To be honest I can't say with absolute certainty it's transfer case noise. But over the past 10K miles that it's been getting louder my ears tell me it is. But they could be wrong. I'll use myechanics stethoscope on the transfer case lever next time I'm driving to confirm better.
The sounds disappears when coasting.
The truck has a 2.5" lift.
I used 75-90 Mobile 1 gear oil.
I regularly grease the driveshaft zerks.
I stuffed rock wool in the rear quarter panel voids, primarily.

 

[hisandhers80s]

I had the same whine and the noise was the rear drive shaft after a 2.5” lift. It went away when I installed a rear DC shaft.

 

[SHIfTHEAD]

I had the same whine and the noise was the rear drive shaft after a 2.5” lift. It went away when I installed a rear DC shaft.

Ok, so this got me wanting to check my u joints to see if there is a stiff one or two down there. Good call.

 

[petegangies]

Here's the sound of mine on a blank video background.

 

[VPP]

Ok, so this got me wanting to check my u joints to see if there is a stiff one or two down there. Good call.

Whine are gears, vibration & clanks are bad UJs. Check for any body contact on drivetrain components as the noise will travel into the cab. You can pack noise deadening material in and around floor areas but it doesn't take care of the problem causing the noise.

 

[petegangies]

I'm seriously considering investing in a set of chassis ears.. the number of "noises" I've had to diagnose, they'd have paid for themselves multiple times over by now.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

I'm seriously considering investing in a set of chassis ears.. the number of "noises" I've had to diagnose, they'd have paid for themselves multiple times over by now.

I've used a buddy of mine kit they are older and take a ton of double a batteries they do work.

 

[petegangies]

I've used a buddy of mine kit they are older and take a ton of double a batteries they do work.

I've also heard the wired ones are more reliable then the wireless ones, so for the sake of a painful setup zip tying and setting up your wires, they tend to be the better option. Don't forget to have someone else drive while you listen and switch between the channels haha.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

I've also heard the wired ones are more reliable then the wireless ones, so for the sake of a painful setup zip tying and setting up your wires, they tend to be the better option. Don't forget to have someone else drive while you listen and switch between the channels haha.

I drove and to a video too lol

 

[VPP]

I'm trying to determine if the whine I'm hearing is normal or if it's 'now that I've heard it I listen for it all the time' kinda thing. The whine is only noticeable above about 50 mph, but is most annoying at about 70 mph. On really long trips it starts to drive me a bit crazy at the higher speeds, but I think that's largely because of funky harmonics in the cabin. It's got 193K on it and I've fairly recently changed the oil in it to see if that would help. No chunks came out and it was a small amount of grey paste on the magnet. Oil was pretty clean actually. One thing of note, this truck has been converted to a full time off road camping rig. The rear seating, both rows, have been removed and a bed platform has been built on one side with a fridge, seat, etc. back there. Also, right after I got it I went through the work of really getting rid of all the excess noise in the truck, so I laid down dynamat front to rear and stuffed rock wool in all the internal cavities. It's really pretty quiet now, which might be why I hear this so well. Anyway, it's just the right frequency to sound like a drill in my right ear driving down the road at about 70 mph.

So I'm trying to figure out if this whine is just the way these trucks are, esp with 200K on the clock, or my description sounds abnormal. And if the latter, how hard is a rebuild of the transfer case? Or should I look for a decent shop in the Charlotte area trusted to do this work?

Grab the output shafts of the trans and TC and wiggle them side to side, that may give you an indication of the bad unit.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

im thinking a bearing bad in the tc on the 94 thats here had a ton of noise from the front axle, I used the ears to diagnois that rear axle hardly any noise trans and tc hardly any noise more than rear axle. Driving has a higher pitch noise than what a rear axle would make.

 

[hisandhers80s]

You could remove one shaft at a time to narrow down where the noise is coming from. That’s what I did.

 

[76lcmike]

You could remove one shaft at a time to narrow down where the noise is coming from. That’s what I did.

yes, take each shaft off one at time, easy peezt