I thought that you were running this axle with no problems untill you changed the diff & gears which is when the noise started up.....? I also thought you'd looked at the joints and shaft and they checked out....? Well, clarify the first question and we'll work from there. Sorry this is driving you nuts, seems like one of those guys you've been throwing money at could have id'ed the problem.

 

If you want to know if hte driveshaft or u-joints are the problem, take out the driveshaft and drive around with the hubs locked and in 2wd. If the problem exsists, it's something with the front axle. If there is nothing wrong here, shift into 4wd and drive around (tranfer case engaged). If the problem exisits here, than it's the transfer case. We know it's not the tranny because it would cause the problem whether or not your in 4wd. If both of those show nothing, than either the u-joints are a miss or the driveshaft is not balanced correctly. You also never told us what "hooked up" meant when refering to the ARB. Did that mean not engaged?

 

Sorry, the arb is not even hooked up yet. I have not run the air lines for it. West coast sucks again let me say. I spoke with them today and they said all I get for 150 is a looksie and nothing else. What a dang joke. Well on the way home from the tranny shop I stopped and got some Warn premium manual hubs and stooped by another diff shop I had seen with two beat to hell but seriously bad *** rock rigs out front. I have found that talk is cheap until you hit the rocks. Right away this guy pulls out my front left hub, puts it in four wheel drive and viola, noise gone. So now he says it's either the hubs, the wheel bearings,the u joint caps on the axle shafts or the unit hub bearings( I have never heard of these, but he says they are $400 apiece) The Warns I bought don't seem to fit, so he says come back tomorrow and we'll match the hubs and for $75.00 I will find the problem and if not I won't charge you. Why the heck do we not post the names of guys like this on freeway overpasses so everyone will go see them instead of weenies like west Coast? So now at least I maybe have a lead and someone commited to find the problem. He says he wants to find the problem so he'll be able to help the next guy who can't find a problem and it's personally annoying him off because he doesn't know what it is. I guess this is what you get when you deal with one of the pirates of the Rubicon. I will wait to post his name to see if it all works out. p.s sorry about the language, I was way upset. Please don't tell daddy-to many good guys have gotten the boot.

 

because these guys know thier stuff. west coast is out to make $$$$.

 

Well it was not the hubs. He replaced them and the popping fron the stock crap is gone but not the drive noise. there went another 200 bucks . Oh well, at least the warn hubs have a lifetime warranty.

 

You just love throwing money at a truck hoping it'll work dont you?

 

I've tried everything else and I'm open to all suggestions.

 

I have one. Pull the front shaft like was suggested earlier. It takes about 5 minutes. Then lock the hubs and leave it in 2wd and see if the noise is present. If not unlock the hubs and make sure they are unlocked by visually checking to see that the front axles are not turning. Then put it in 4x4 on the dash and see if the noise is there.

This simple 15 minute process of elimination will pinpoint the problem quickly. Once we are 100% sure it's a front diff problem we can move on from there.

Do some things to help us help you. Post results here. We're not giving up that easily.

 

I have one. Pull the front shaft like was suggested earlier. It takes about 5 minutes. Then lock the hubs and leave it in 2wd and see if the noise is present. If not unlock the hubs and make sure they are unlocked by visually checking to see that the front axles are not turning. Then put it in 4x4 on the dash and see if the noise is there.

This simple 15 minute process of elimination will pinpoint the problem quickly. Once we are 100% sure it's a front diff problem we can move on from there.

Do some things to help us help you. Post results here. We're not giving up that easily.

 

Ha! answers at last. Changed the hubs and that solved the largest problem. Now the front driveshaft is binding and is under an increased load due to it spinning faster and with increased power after the gear change. I kid you not I pulled up to this guys shop to see him hanging from the frame while one of his guys drove it around. So the shaft gets c.v.'s on Monday and that should eliminate the rest of the problem. I will let you know. Thanks guys.

 

Yeah let us know. I hope for your sanity that this fixes it I'm dubious though

 

Where do you get CV shafts?

 

any drive line shop can make a CV shaft.

 

Well I am dubious about any answers I would get from a DUCKS FAN! Go Bruins!!!!

Just kidding of course. It is evident when I hung from the bottom of the truck that this is a problem. For whatever reason I could not hear this before. Anyway, the worst is over.River City differentials, Folsom, CA rules

 

CWB, please email me using the profile button at the bottom of my post. We need to talk.

Thanks
Ryan