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Rear Axle service - still noisy back end (long)

G

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Guest
Yesterday I change both wheel bearing to try to resolve a grinding
noise that appears to be coming from the back end, but a short test run
last night seems to indicate that the problem is elsewhere.
To recap, just before picking the 80 up a few weeks ago, it was badly
serviced and the rear diff oil was drained, but only 2litres was put
back in car.
I picked up the car and started noticing vibration/grating noises
increasing in volume the further we drove. After the 500 mile trip
home it was starting to make it difficult to hold a conversation at
around 80mph.
Once home I checked the diff and noticed the low oil level (2 litres) -
drained it and put in some new oil (3.2 litres) - the old oil was very
cloudy and has now (after 2 weeks) settled out into about a 1inch layer
of grey goo (grease?) At the bottom of oil in the drain container.
My theory was that the seal between the bearing and the axle had gone
and the grease had flowed out, the goo being grease and the noise being
a failing bearing.
Anyway, swapped out both bearings last night. Once I was setup and had
the right bolts for separating the driveshafts and disks it took about
15mins to get each hub off. Can't remember what size bolts I used, but
very handy.
The left hand wheel bearing (the one I thought was noisy) had some rust
mixed with the grease and it looks like the inner races of inner and
outer bearings have both been rotating on the axle - not sure why yet -
I have photos of the wear on the axle if anyone wants to see. The hub
nut was reasonably tight.
The right hand wheel bearing definitely had diff oil mixed in with the
grease and the hub nut was loose requiring no effort to undo.
know haven't been touched since new (124k miles).
I cleaned everything off and replaced the bearings and seals with
bearing/seal set from local auto shop (Koyo bearings like originals) -
?75 as opposed to Toyota quote of ?245.
There is still noise from the rear end somewhere and I am still at a
bit of a loss to know where the grey goo at the bottom of the diff oil
was from.
I have put a marker on the left hand axle shaft to see if the inner
bearing races are still rotating on the axle and will check next
weekend - if it is still rotating, I will try to find some suitable
locktite to hold them in place.
I have still to degrease and thoroughly inspect the old bearings, I
assume that there might be some damage because managed to pick up a
sizeable splinter of metal when handling them.
For anyone contemplating doing the rear bearings themselves, some
points to note:
Make sure you have a slide hammer with internal pullers for getting the
bearings out - you probably could use a drift, but it would be harder
work.
The collets round the small nuts on the hub come off easily when you
hit the ends of the bolts and the side of the hub with a brass hammer,
but be careful, some come flying off at quite a speed!
Spend time trying to get the bolts for pulling off the hub and make
sure you have a couple of inches of thread - they save a lot of hassle.
Can't remember the size off hand, but you average cutter bolts seem to
be about the right size.
I'm going to see how it goes this week before digging further to find
the noise.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift, ARB
 
Julian
I had a (front) bearing race turn on the axle, but the noise wasn't continuous - it tended to start suddenly at around 20mph on a bumpy surface, then stop equally suddenly when I got a bit of speed up. Also when the axle warmed up a bit (friction causing expansion I presume) it became harder to provoke, and the noise (something between a groan and a whirr) wasn't directly related to road speed.
With the windows down and driving between walls it was reasonably easy to tell which side it was coming from.
Sorry, not much help, but that's what happened to me.
Christopher Bell
1996 1HD-FT
Devon, UK
 
Hi Julian,
Try checking carefully that you are not getting any contact between the
inner surface of the disc and the handbrake back plate - look for any
polished or worn patches. I had a similar problem when corrosion caused
the back plate to warp slightly - only a tiny contact area but it
created a truly horrible metal to metal noise. (Solved with judicious
use of a hammer).
Best of luck,
Toby
1990 UK spec 80 VX
-----Original Message-----
From: [Email address removed] [mailto:[Email address removed]]
On Behalf Of Julian Voelcker
Sent: 13 September 2004 15:38
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Rear Axle service - still noisy back end (long)
Hi Christopher,
continuous - it tended to start suddenly at around 20mph on a bumpy
surface, then stop equally suddenly when I got a bit of speed up. Also
when the axle warmed up a bit (friction causing expansion I presume) it
became harder to provoke, and the noise (something between a groan and a
whirr) wasn't directly related to road speed.
Thanks for that.
I am inclined to think that the noise I am hearing is not that.
The noise is at any speed, getting louder and higher pitched with speed.
I could easily mistake it for tyre noise, but it has a definite metal
against metal noise..
I didn't drain the diff last night so will do that one of these nights
to see if there is any change in the oil or any more bits of metal in
there (there were a couple of shards on the plug when I drained the 2
litres).
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift, ARB
 
Hi Christopher,
Thanks for that.
I am inclined to think that the noise I am hearing is not that.
The noise is at any speed, getting louder and higher pitched with speed.
I could easily mistake it for tyre noise, but it has a definite metal against metal noise..
I didn't drain the diff last night so will do that one of these nights to see if there is any change in the oil or any more bits of metal in there (there were a couple of shards on the plug when I drained the 2 litres).
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift, ARB
 
Hi Toby,
Thanks.
I'll check that, although spinning the wheels/hubs whilst jacked up
didn't reveal any odd noises like that.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift, ARB
 
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