Stinky's a whiner lately. Sadly... after 285K miles, his old legs are showing the strain. I can feel a bit of vibration coming and going, I hear whine in the front, and I know replacing a piece at a time invites multiple weekends under the truck - like the last year gave me multiple weekends under the hood.

So... rather than waiting for things to sneak up on me one piece at a time, I found somebody very interesting right down the road from me. [LINK].

I could fit my entire knowledge of running gear in a thimble, so I'd ask for your opinion on the products available there before I release the safety on the Buck$Zooka trigger. Stinky is going in their shop early this morning, but I don't have to commit until later in the day.

 

Only the front? Is this based on a need or a want? Or a need and a want?

I did the front on mine, upper lower BJ's, axle u-joints, Dieselsite ESOF SSTL hoses, steering stabilizer, pulled the ESOF hubs apart and Guzzle'd them. I maybe should have did the sway bar bushings and leaf spring bushing...oh well, this spring.

So, you're checking the field of fire first? Pre-shot target assessment?

 

An ARB air locker would be a nice touch for the deep stuff.

Here is my rear.

 

I'm having them look the whole truck over. I did the rear differential last summer and everything seems to be OK in there, but the axles and bearings need a better eye than I have in my possession.

I already know I caused a collection of carnage when I powered up - hence the ladder bars on a stock-height truck to prevent subsequent axle-wrap.

My driveline has been rebuilt and re-straightened and rebalanced, but that was before I found the axle-wrap. I might have to eat a Quarter Caliber round on that little oversight.

I'm no expert, Scott... but your differential looks like something serious is going on. Here's mine by comparison:




My wife kids me about looking at truck **** all the time... now here we are flashing our a55es.

 

I'm not good in this area as well and am pretty sure mine is not doing well. I can see some people taking this off course here but would like to keep things on track for you. The pics are of the rear diffs but you'r changing out the front end.

 

Not "changing out" anything yet... I'm having all my running gear evaluated front and rear. Yes, I changed the fluids in the differential (I can operate a jug of oil, a camera, and a RTV tube just fine)... but that does nothing for the rear axle bearings, the bearing to the driveline, the front wheel bearings, the front drive, the possible re-damage to the driveline from axle-wrap, etc....

Look at your differential again. See the helical gear "gouges" in the middle? That's not good.

 

I noticed it when I did the 200k mile service back in October, but the funny thing is NO vibration, NO noise, nothing. Oh, for except some forward and rearward movement on the drive shaft which means some attention is required.

 

The bearing guys pulled the running gear apart and inspected the bearings, drive shaft, ball joints, rear end, and the rest of the spinning/steering stuff under the truck. Stinky got a "B+" on his report card, so the bearing guys put Stinky back to together and just billed me for time and fluids.

I have now officially "Completely gone through Stinky" and he is road-ready. The whine and vibration? Tire noise. My tires are now about 18 months old and have worn in a way that makes a whine. My third rotation cometh (it was overdue anyway).

 

Looks like you have bad pinion bearings. If you don't repair that soon it will get expensive quick.

 

I'd agree. I also hope that when *they* R&R the pinion bearing *they* can get it into spec without some sort of howl.

 

Dan getting a diff set up to not growl or howl isn't as easy as one might think. By looking at the photo of Scott's diff I would say the pinion bearing needs to be replaced NOW before it goes BOOM. Because of these times when that pinion rides in deep on the ring gear it is going to break teeth off. From what I can see in the photo the ring gear doesn't look bad but I am sure it is getting stressed from the pinion walking in and out. There is a good chance that just replacing the pinion bearing the diff will growl or howl due to wear in the pinion & ring.

In the past I have had alot of experience with 8.8" and 9" diff's coming apart. The first couple of times I paid a so called expert to set up my differentals and was not pleased. If a mechanic thinks he is so good that he can set one up by feel he is a dumb a**. To do it correctly it needs to be set up with a dial indicator and use paint/ dye on the ring gear. If the pinion is set up too tight to the ring gear it will growl and if it is set up to loose it will howl. And trying to set up a diff with used gears in most cases you will end up with some noise. It you want No noises you need new bearings and new ring & pinion gears and set up correctly. I have done 8 different differentals and the ones with used ring & pinion all ended up with some noise. 3 of them were done with all new parts, 2 of them I had to take apart a couple times to get right. Only once was I able to get it right the first time. So I have alot of respect for a guy that is good at setting up a diff. And this is going to be a mechanic that does differentals for a living not Joe Blow mechanic.

Rich I am glad Stinky got a good report and new fuilds.

 

All I was coyly getting at is that he may have a wear pattern on the ring gear that will cause a growl/howl no matter what at this point. Would the pinion scrapping the carrier be caused in coast, rather than power?

 

The more I look at that ring gear it looks like the wear pattern is the full length of the teeth. So I am sure if just replacing the pinion bearing it will make some noise of some kind. But the diffs that I just changed the carrier bearings & pinion bearing or just pinion bearing did make some noise but most still stayed together for a long time. But a road trip at highway speeds with a rear diff screaming will drive you nuts. I am not sure what would be the cause of the pinion hitting the carrier??? I am going to guess it would be a WOT and then letting off of it. That is just a guess.

 

If I were to guess, loose nut and bad bearing, both.

 

Not entirely true. I work with someone who can "feel" backlash and be right within .001-.002" every freaking time, it blows me away. But you still need paint to check the gear pattern.