What's this noise?

[THISISWEIRD]

When I'm stopped at a stop sign going up hill but slightly turned to one side, as I slowly take off, I can hear and feel a popping noise. Occasionally going up hill around a turn at about 45, I feel the same thing. I assume it's a rear end slipping or something like that. Does this mean my rear end is about to go? BTW, it's a 10 bolt with what I assume is a 3.08 gear.

 

[obijuan]

well it seems to me its every time youre turning, and popping is usually ujoints, i would take a gander at your front axle shaft joints. also make sure your ubolts are tight, and your steering box bolts, now that i think about it that seems like what it may be.

 

[THISISWEIRD]

I'm pretty sure it's not the ujoints on the front....I think it's coming from the rear. It's a big enough pop that the whole truck pops too when it happens. Wouldn't the front ujoints be stationary anyway if the hubs aren't locked?

 

[user]

please be more specific

Can you describe the popping noise any better? Does it have a more mechanical or hydraulic character? Any other sound or feeling associated with it? High or low pitch? Are you saying it's a one-time champagne cork kind of thing, or is it a recurrent sound when you take off from the stop sign? More like a low-pitched organ pipe gut-resonant kind of thing or a more moderate but mechanical thing you feel because of the vibrations?

 

[THISISWEIRD]

I both feel and hear the pop. It's a continual thing that goes on until I straighten it up. Like a ratcheting noise (mechanical) that causes the whole truck to pop like it's lurching forward. I thought it was the rear end since it only happens when I'm loading up the rear end (towing and turning or uphill and turning). It does it just as bad or maybe worse when I'm backing up.

 

[NEK5]

I both feel and hear the pop. It's a continual thing that goes on until I straighten it up. Like a ratcheting noise (mechanical) that causes the whole truck to pop like it's lurching forward. I thought it was the rear end since it only happens when I'm loading up the rear end (towing and turning or uphill and turning). It does it just as bad or maybe worse when I'm backing up.

Gov lock

 

[roadnotca]

Or LockRight?

 

[thealien]

rear diff dammage/problems. I am experiencing this myself.

 

[user]

probable cause

Make a tight right-hand turn, like circle in a parking lot or some such where you can ignore where the truck's going while you stick your head out the window to look behind you. better yet, get a friend, wife, or bystander to stare at the tires as you make the donuts. watch and see if the outer tire is sort of skidding (by a series of pop-pop-pop jerky motions) rather than rolling. if that's what's happening, most likely your carrier's busted. You did check to see that it's got oil in it, right?

if it's not related to curves, but to starting and accellerating, especially uphill, I'd suspect worn clutch bands in the transmission. Or low trans fluid.

 

[THISISWEIRD]

outer tire is sort of skidding (by a series of pop-pop-pop jerky motions) rather than rolling.

Money!

 

[pauly383]

Somebody broke a Gov Loc

We've all been there , axle isn't that bad if its open , or open/lockright with 33's .

 

[THISISWEIRD]

So Pauly...If I need a new carrier, can I just buy a lockright and the new gears I want? Or do I need an open carrier, lockright and the new gears?

 

[NEK5]

So Pauly...If I need a new carrier, can I just buy a lockright and the new gears I want? Or do I need an open carrier, lockright and the new gears?

Yep. Not sure about gears, but you`ll need everything else.

 

[user]

leave well enough alone

If there's nothing wrong with the gears, don't replace them. If you change your ratio, you'll have to do it in both the front and the rear. You're better off leaving that stuff as it is.

If you're an off-road kind of person who's likely to get one wheel stuck in the mud with the other hanging off the edge of a cliff, then you need a locking differential. My choice when that happened to me was to get the Eaton True-Trac, 'cause I mainly need to go in the snow and don't want the inability to brake and steer that a locker causes. (Yeah, I know, there are people who learn to work those things just fine, but I'm too old to want to mess with that. I just want the dam'thing to work.)

Since it works with a bunch of helical gears that limit the transfer of tork, it sort of semi-locks, but mechanically - no clutches to wear and slip.

Caution: unless you replace the carrier with one just exactly like what you had, be sure to measure the backlash very carefully before and after - you may need to adjust the shims a little. Even though the axle shafts come through in the same place and the carrier rotates around that axis, if it's slightly larger or smaller in circumference, the ring gear could be in a (very slightly) different place relative to the pinion.