10 bolt issues.....help!

[rebelk5frk]

Some one give me some good news or confirm my fears.
I think me rear is about to die.

I noticed the other day that when I coast in gear (manual 4 spd) that the truck made a terrible grinding noise. When I push in the clutch to take the reverse load off the drivetrain the noise goes away.

I looked under the truck when it was parked and noticed the pinion seemed to be sticking out a little farther than normal and seems to have a lot of "play" when I rock the truck back and forth a little.

So far, it still drives ok when under load but I don't want this to totally go out while driving 70+ down the freeway.

So.... what am I looking at repair wise? Just a new bearing or is it time to look for an axle and/or gears? /forums/images/graemlins/1zhelp.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif

 

[smprider112]

have ya taken off the diff cover to see what things look like in there?? also it sounds like yer tranny not rear end..the way u describe pushing in the clutch and having the noise stop...even if the truck is rolling under no power from tranny/motor the rear end still spins, so the noise should have continued. just my .02

 

[83ZZ502_Jimmy]

Could it be the U-joint? Sounds similar to problems I've had regarding ujoints

John

 

[dyeager535]

What kind of play? Check that the nut on the pinion (under the u-joint) hasn't backed off. Usually you will start leaking diff fluid if thats the case, but it's not hard to tell..should have no discernable "side to side" play on the yoke.

 

[rebelk5frk]

In order....

No I haven't taken the diff cover off yet. Been too busy driving the stupid thing. The noise is still almost there with the clutch pushed in... just not NEAR as loud. The trans or T-case was my first concern until I noticed the yoke on the rear end looking weird

I haven't had any real problems with the U-joints and they have both been replaced fairly recently (within a couple of months ago) and look to be in good shape.

It also doesn't look like the nut has backed off but is hard to tell. I do seem to be leaking gear oil a bit from the around the yoke. I'm not sure how much of a "side to side" motion it has because it moves mostly "in and out" but also moves to the side a bit as it goes back into the diff housing.

From what I can tell, the pinion seems to stick out farther (shows clean metal) when parked "uphill" (as in the truck wants to roll backwards) When parked the other direction, the pinion is pulled back to what looks like the normal position in the diff housing.

 

[kennyw]

[ QUOTE ]
From what I can tell, the pinion seems to stick out farther (shows clean metal) when parked "uphill" (as in the truck wants to roll backwards) When parked the other direction, the pinion is pulled back to what looks like the normal position in the diff housing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Time to pull the cover and quit driving it! Look at your gears and make sure they are not destroyed (but probably are since you have been driving it this way). Right now I would plan on a rebuild or another axle very soon.

 

[Rolled]

I had same noise problem you are describing. I tried everything and all I needed to do was drop the tcase to get rid of the "no-load" noise.

If this just started, I doubt this is your problem...