dsciulli19
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2024
- Posts
- 21
- Reaction score
- 13
Good Morning TahoeYukon Folks,
I am in the process of plotting my next move to track down some drivetrain noise on my 2009 1500 XL 5.3. Just rolled over 99,000 Miles.
I was hearing some excess road noise and correctly assumed that my front hubs/bearings were toast, so I replaced those, and my driver's side CV axle while I was there. It reduced the bearing noise I was hearing but did not eliminate it. The noise I'm hearing I would describe as an almost skateboard like noise combined with a knobby tire like drone (but not nearly as loud as someone actually driving by with aggressive tires) that comes on about 30-35mph and is very noticeable to me at around 50-60mph. The noise does not increase or decrease with load like I've experienced in the past with a bad rear end, and I can't seem to make it increase or decrease by loading one side of the car vs the other around a bend. Also having a difficult time determining which side its coming from by driving next to jersey barriers on either side.
So I'm looking to decide what to attack next. Here's my plan so far:
1. Rear wheel bearings: I'm on my original rear axle/wheel bearings, and one of my axle seals has a slow weep affecting e-brake hold so I want to knock those out next. Since they've got 100K on them this won't be wasted time no matter what. Inspect rear diff while I'm in there. I don't think the rear diff is the issue because in my experience a failing rear diff increases its noise significantly under throttle and also is much more of an aggressive high pitched whine/buzz, but I'll check out what I can see and look for metal in the gear oil.
2. Inspect U-Joints: I thought this would cause more of a clunk but apparently these can whine and roar as well.
3. Inspect front diff & bearings: According to google AI apparently these bearings can wear and make noise without any noticeable vibration when driving. Could use some input here because in the 5 GMT900s we've had in our family none of them have had this issue.
4. Check alignment: I haven't had the alignment checked on this rig in the 30,000 miles I've had it, but the bridgestone duelers I had on there before the michelins I just put on were wearing very evenly with 7-10k rotations so I never felt the need. Also I'm putting this off becuase I want to replace my struts, ball joints and tie rod ends as part of my 100k maintenance
Is there anything else I should go after that could be making this bearing noise?
I am in the process of plotting my next move to track down some drivetrain noise on my 2009 1500 XL 5.3. Just rolled over 99,000 Miles.
I was hearing some excess road noise and correctly assumed that my front hubs/bearings were toast, so I replaced those, and my driver's side CV axle while I was there. It reduced the bearing noise I was hearing but did not eliminate it. The noise I'm hearing I would describe as an almost skateboard like noise combined with a knobby tire like drone (but not nearly as loud as someone actually driving by with aggressive tires) that comes on about 30-35mph and is very noticeable to me at around 50-60mph. The noise does not increase or decrease with load like I've experienced in the past with a bad rear end, and I can't seem to make it increase or decrease by loading one side of the car vs the other around a bend. Also having a difficult time determining which side its coming from by driving next to jersey barriers on either side.
So I'm looking to decide what to attack next. Here's my plan so far:
1. Rear wheel bearings: I'm on my original rear axle/wheel bearings, and one of my axle seals has a slow weep affecting e-brake hold so I want to knock those out next. Since they've got 100K on them this won't be wasted time no matter what. Inspect rear diff while I'm in there. I don't think the rear diff is the issue because in my experience a failing rear diff increases its noise significantly under throttle and also is much more of an aggressive high pitched whine/buzz, but I'll check out what I can see and look for metal in the gear oil.
2. Inspect U-Joints: I thought this would cause more of a clunk but apparently these can whine and roar as well.
3. Inspect front diff & bearings: According to google AI apparently these bearings can wear and make noise without any noticeable vibration when driving. Could use some input here because in the 5 GMT900s we've had in our family none of them have had this issue.
4. Check alignment: I haven't had the alignment checked on this rig in the 30,000 miles I've had it, but the bridgestone duelers I had on there before the michelins I just put on were wearing very evenly with 7-10k rotations so I never felt the need. Also I'm putting this off becuase I want to replace my struts, ball joints and tie rod ends as part of my 100k maintenance
Is there anything else I should go after that could be making this bearing noise?
