Vibration and clunk hunting...

[VTCruiser]

Well i got my 1HZ'd 60 going and it made the 1000 mile trip to Clemson. (see thread in Int'l Board). I ran really well but i have a couple clunks and noises i'd like to address and would like some advise on where to start.

1) First of all there is a vibration over 55mph some where in the driveline (not felt in the steering wheel) during the "load transition" between acceleration and decelleration. If i am off the throttle it only hums a little (not too bad, but there) and when I am on the throttle heavy it only hums too. But when the throttle is depressed just a little it really vibrates badly (especially over 55mph). I think the first step is to replace the U-joints and then maybe the the driveshaft (rusty). thoughts?

2) Also, there is a spuratic clunking and squeaking in the left front end when making tight turns at slow speeds. A lot of things are probably worn up there, but the truck tracks pretty straight on the highway no wonder or pulling, pretty tight steering, but the alignment appears to be off slightly. The wheel is turned maybe 5 degrees right while driving straight.

Where should I start? The vibration is a big one, i can live with the clunking for a while... any ideas? TIA

 

[Cruiserdrew]

#1 is easy. 99% sure you have a bad pinion bearing in the rear end. You can get a bit more life out of it if you tighten the pinion nut and re-stake it. That will buy you a few months. The real solution is to pull the third member and take it to a diff shop familiar with Toyotas. It will need a full rebuild. (Differential bearings are about $150 for all 4, and labor is also about $150 at least around here). There are other possibilities too like bad u-joints, but the vibration between accel and decel is so classic for pinion bearing wear, I'm pretty sure you will find the problem there.

#2 I would look for wear and slop in the drag link ends. You could try tightening the adjusters and see if that helps.

Good luck

 

[lovetoski]

Congrats on the successful road trip.

Re #2, since there are so many places in the front that wear, and cause produce noise, it's good to do a full assement. On this board (forget from whom) I read about a simple way to check out the whole front.

Jack up the front, remove the wheels, and get everything stable on stands. Now you can obviously check wheel bearings, knuckle bearings this way. But, if you have a helper turn the steering wheel and bump up against the steering stop, you'll also be able to see wear (movement) in the TRE's, drag links, steering box, etc. Plus, you'll likely hear some noise. This was trick was a big help on my truck.

Best Regards,

 

[VTCruiser]

Good call on the pinion bearing...the u-joints were a little stiff so i will replace those too. I should probably have the rear end rebuilt anyway...are all 60 series 3rd members the same? its and HJ60 with the K052 axle which i believe is the full floater (?) Where's the best place to find a rebuild kit for this unit?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Good call on the pinion bearing...the u-joints were a little stiff so i will replace those too. I should probably have the rear end rebuilt anyway...are all 60 series 3rd members the same? its and HJ60 with the K052 axle which i believe is the full floater (?) Where's the best place to find a rebuild kit for this unit?

If it hasn't been said often enough, our very own CDan has the best goods you can get. You will need all 4 bearings, the seal and the crush sleeve. Don't forget the paper gasket that goes between the 3rd member and the axle housing. Ask him if there is other stuff you might need to go with it. Fix it soon though, when the bearing finally goes, it gets ugly fast. Then find out who DD113 sends his diffs to and take yours there if Atlanta isn't too far from Clemson.

By the way, since you have a full float, pulling the diff will be relatively easy. pull out the axle shafts, unbolt the diff and pull it out. None of thouse #@$%&@@## c-clips to worry about.

 

[lowtideride]

number 2 might just be shifting spring packs. grease em up!

 

[Wayzata]

number 2 might just be shifting spring packs. grease em up!

What are shifting spring packs?

 

[lowtideride]

when the leafs in your spring pack shift when you turn the wheel. they make a clunking noise.

 

[pplkook]

when the leafs in your spring pack shift when you turn the wheel. they make a clunking noise.

I also vote for shifting spring packs...with the cruiser on the ground, go under and place your hand on different front-end components (make sure you don't grab a pinch spot) and then have a buddy turn the wheel lock to lock. You will quickly feel where the clunk has come from.

I have the spring pack problem with "terrain tamer" springs that the MAF guys said were "the exact same as OME". Well, I now see the benefit of the OME silicon deals between the packs. I can't imaging how much interleaf friction there is to cause this binding...I have tride different grease solutions, but eventually it comes back...

I am actually trying to get some parabolics to put on my rig. Has anyone got a set of the TIC parabolics in the US????

-Jack