Rear noise

[Tozan]

I was worried about the transmission on my up coming hunting trip but, now I started hearing a growling noise(bearing noise) from the back. You hear it mostly when there is power going to it and when you coast it almost goes away... I am thinking it is from the gear set not a bearing... If it is a gearing noise it might be ok to drive it 3k miles and deal with it when I get back if bearings I should do it now.

What say you guys?

 

[Bill 1960]

I knew a guy drove a Chevy pickup with the rear howling for months. We could hear him coming a half mile away it was so bad.

That said, I’d never do it. In my experience gears whine from day 1 if they have an issue. Bearings OTOH start getting noisy after wear reaches a certain point.

PS- and to some degree when the bearings wear, it shifts the point of contact which makes the gears whine. But the root causes may be a pinion bearing for example.

 

[Foggy]

Could also be U Joints... You don't want to run with them being bad..
Check those before you do anything. Also, I'd check the fluid level and condition of
rear diff. If it is a rear diff gear noise, you might extend the life by changing the fluid

 

[OR VietVet]

Usually what causes gear noise is very high mileage on the set, poor condition of the fluid and low on fluid because maybe a cover leaks, pinion seal and axle seals leaking. The bearing wear out over time and then the lash changes and the noise starts. You can cross fingers but a cover removal and inspection is needed and check for metal in fluid and a complete clean out and thorough inspection with good lighting.

 

[Tozan]

I think those are a good ideas. Check fluid and u joints first then make a determination from there.

The u joints are original 209k all gears, bearings and seals have around 80k on them.

Maybe I am just being paranoid because of several hundred mile (2 lane hwy) sections with no towns or gas stations in between them... lol

 

[Tozan]

I checked the fluid it had glitter in it... Dropped it off at Arizona differential last Thursday and picked it up yesterday... They rebuilt it and replaced all the moving parts in there. They put non synthetic oil in it and recommend oil changes every 12 to 15k.

They also said to drive 30 to 50 miles let it cool down for a couple hours. They want me to do this 4 times... I wonder what this actually does for it?

 

[OR VietVet]

Knowledge Center

www.revolutiongear.com

 

[89Suburban]

I checked the fluid it had glitter in it... Dropped it off at Arizona differential last Thursday and picked it up yesterday... They rebuilt it and replaced all the moving parts in there. They put non synthetic oil in it and recommend oil changes every 12 to 15k.

They also said to drive 30 to 50 miles let it cool down for a couple hours. They want me to do this 4 times... I wonder what this actually does for it?

What did it set you back? I assumed they did the wheel bearings and seals too?

 

[Tozan]

They replaced everything ring, pinion, bearings and seals. total was $1145.00

 

[Bill 1960]

That’s not a bad price.

 

[Geotrash]

That’s not a bad price.

Agreed. Very fair.

 

[OR VietVet]

What gear set did you/they use?

 

[Tozan]

@Bill 1960 I was OK with the price since they turned it around in 2 days... Originaly it only cost $1800 to do both front and rear gears..

@PNW VietVet They used 410 factory chevy parts.

 

[Tozan]

Well the rear end sounds fine now but the transmission hit 230 on some easy hills the last 30 minutes of my trip. Anyone know of a good transmission shop in Colorado Springs?