Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train rear end growling

hi folks, well one thing ends and another begins.the rear end in my truck was growling sometimes ,though i thought i was becuse of a sticky brake shoe causing the spiders to bind a little . now with the brake freed up. it still growls . when i did the drive shaft install the confusion over the rear u joint at the parts store (3 tries to get it right!)had me removing the yoke off the rear end to take it to the store with the drive shaft .when i reinstalled the yoke i was thinking just tighten it down . but how tight? with it off the rear end, the shaft it slides onto moved around . maybe i should not have removed it. does this need to be torqued down and /or spaced properly to align with the gears inside . is there an easy way to check this? otherwise off to the axle bearings ,i guess.

Helo Dr.Tile, this is the same thing that you would have to do if you were to replace the pinion seal. The objective is to get the nut tight but with out crushing the "crush sleve" any more. The toque spec. given in your manual will be for setting the "preload" when the crush sleve is crushed for the first time when the pinion is installed in the housing before the "ring gear" is in place, so this WILL NOT APPLY HERE!!! Since all you removed was the yoke,or the seal in that case,will be to tighten the nut back up and torque it to approx.60-70 foot/lbs which I think will be enough to get it tight but not enough to crush the sleeve.When you get that done take a sharp punch and "stake" the nut to also help keep it in place.It would not hurt to use a little lock tight here also.I have done this so many times with my breaker-bar it is hard to tell you the exact amount of torque,but you have not hurt a thing and it's a common repair that can be done successfully. Hope this will help---Paul P.S. you Can probably use a large pipe wrench to hold the yoke when torqueing the nut. I made a plate with a large hole in the center and 4 holes that bolt to the yoke, then welded a piece of 3/4" ridge pipe to it for a handle.

i test drove the truck today . before i had only tried it in place with the wheels off the ground . i got that same info from a friend earlier this morn but you explained it better . the noise could be an axle bearing or something with the brakes . ill check it out when it cools down (the weather that is ). i not even sure this rear end works at all.even though i 've had it 30 years i had never driven it .first long trip today .20 miles over the bridge from my buddy's house to my carport .i m jazzed!the growl starts at 15 -20 miles per and just howls along . thanks ,paul

Thanks Dr tile, If the noise does not start until you start getting some speed it is real possible it is a axle bearing. After setting for 30 years they may be dry. What you could try is to raise the truck on the same side as the filler plug - then add some rear end grease. This would effectively over fill the rear end slightly and allow some grease to run out into the axle tubes when back level,there by lubricating the axle bearings. Just a thought---Paul

Is it growling or howling? Growling would be a bad bearing. Howling would be the ring gear and pinion. Does it change when you give it more gas or let off the gas? That would be the gears. Joe

end of noise !!! axle bearing was shot on the drivers side .replaced it and i got a daily cruiser . the only way to fly