Hey Nate, hope you're doing well.
I've been driving the wheels off of Treebeard this year—lots of highway miles and lots of trails. With 4WD low and a dream this truck can go anywhere. I'm currently sitting just shy of 340,000 miles (on the truck's odometer) and still going strong. I started diving into a few issues this week that I've been sitting on for a while. These include:
Peeling the transfer apart, I discovered that the transmission output shaft lock nut had completely backed off and was eating into the cover. I'm attributing this to my own idiocy and failing to stake the nut adequately. I believe this is where the 'whining' is coming from. Thankfully, the glitter was well-contained and does not appear to have migrated into the rest of the transfer. Everything else in the transfer looks fine, so I'm planning on replacing the rear bearing, oil seals, lock nuts, cover, gaskets, and reassembling.
As for the loud 'thunk,' I noticed when taking the rear driveshaft off that the rear differential flange has significant play before engaging the axles. Uh-oh. I took the differential cover off this evening and found what appears to be a thrust washer loose in the housing. Also, lots of glitter... No idea how the washer could have made its way out without something catastrophically failing. Additionally, one of the pinions is freely moving on the pinion shaft, with a predictable result. The pinions and side gears are completely ruined.
I'm considering simply scrapping the differential and swapping to a locker. Probably long overdue considering my usage. Please feel free to chime in if anyone has advice relating to these issues. I have a lot of archived threads to read through this evening in order to make an informed decision about the differential.
I've been driving the wheels off of Treebeard this year—lots of highway miles and lots of trails. With 4WD low and a dream this truck can go anywhere. I'm currently sitting just shy of 340,000 miles (on the truck's odometer) and still going strong. I started diving into a few issues this week that I've been sitting on for a while. These include:
- A soft metallic 'whining' when at highway speeds, coming from the transmission tunnel. The pitch and severity change with throttle position and only appear at 60+ mph.
- An intermittent loud 'thunk' when accelerating from a dead stop. This can be negated by letting out the clutch extremely softly.
Peeling the transfer apart, I discovered that the transmission output shaft lock nut had completely backed off and was eating into the cover. I'm attributing this to my own idiocy and failing to stake the nut adequately. I believe this is where the 'whining' is coming from. Thankfully, the glitter was well-contained and does not appear to have migrated into the rest of the transfer. Everything else in the transfer looks fine, so I'm planning on replacing the rear bearing, oil seals, lock nuts, cover, gaskets, and reassembling.
As for the loud 'thunk,' I noticed when taking the rear driveshaft off that the rear differential flange has significant play before engaging the axles. Uh-oh. I took the differential cover off this evening and found what appears to be a thrust washer loose in the housing. Also, lots of glitter... No idea how the washer could have made its way out without something catastrophically failing. Additionally, one of the pinions is freely moving on the pinion shaft, with a predictable result. The pinions and side gears are completely ruined.
I'm considering simply scrapping the differential and swapping to a locker. Probably long overdue considering my usage. Please feel free to chime in if anyone has advice relating to these issues. I have a lot of archived threads to read through this evening in order to make an informed decision about the differential.