Buried my best friend last weekend...he wanted the club guys to do burnouts at the grave....revved the motor to 2000...dropped it into gear....heard a 'clunk"....now it does the "clunk" when ya go from drive to reverse or vise versa....but NOT all the time....if ya move the car a few feet it won't do it...a few more feet and it will...any ideas ??? burnout was SPECTACULAR by the way,,,(for you Skeeter --it was worth it man..... !!!). Jersey Skip
yea... shook 'em as hard as I could...look good...had a friend say he did the same but when he pulled the driveshaft the front u-joint was bad....(mine is an open rear)..held each tire still and turned the other wheel...didn't hear a thing ??? I'll pull the shaft to check but if it's the rear I gotta take it to a buddy's house to do it so I'm lookin' for suggetions... Jersey Skip
U-joint, if it was the ring gear you would be hearing a growling noise as you drove. I was in the exact same situation this time last year. Please don't do what I did and smash your thumb with a 20oz. hammer, get the bearing cap on the shaft pressed in or out or use the right tools.
Pulled the driveshaft---u-joints seem fine.....there IS a fair amount of "play" in the rear yoke....I can move it back and forth at least 1/8" to 1/4" before wheel starts to turn.....can I just tighten up the crush nut ??? Air gun ?? torque wrench ?? how tight ??? Didn't hear anything in the rear when I turn...turns easy both ways...... HELP !! Thanks, jersey Skip
a buddy of mine had the same noise... every time he dropped it in gear a second later he heard a clunk.... it ended up being the small leaf spring smaking against the one above it...
I'm not positive, but I don't think you can just tighten up the nut. That washer is already crushed to keep fluid from leaking out. The nut already has the appropriate amount of torque on it, if you just reef on it with an impact wrench or something I would imagine you run the risk of breaking more shit in there. But I'm no expert.
I'd look for somthin other than the 9 in. Once in a while you can break a spider gear (will make noise turning left or rite). Never have I seen a ring or pinion break on the street. Once on the strip saw one rearend break to a zillion pieces(the ring and pinion were still good). I had a broken leaf spring that clunked once. Take the front U joint apart, inspect. Good luck.......OLDBEET
[ QUOTE ] there IS a fair amount of "play" in the rear yoke....I can move it back and forth at least 1/8" to 1/4" before wheel starts to turn.....can I just tighten up the crush nut ??? [/ QUOTE ] No. This won't fix that type of slop anyway. My guess is you cracked/broke the pinion support bearing part of the casting itself. I've seen this happen before with identical symptoms. Having worked on loads of 9" rears, the third pinion support bearing is what gives the 9" its strength by preventing the pinion from deflecting away from the ring gear under acceleration. Having said that, it's also the weak link. When it fails, the pinion will try to move away from the ring gear as you accelerate until it reaches its limit, then when you back off, it will "snap" back - this is what causes the "clunk" - Eventually, you'll eat the pinion bearings & destroy the ring/pinion due to the improper mesh. You'll start to hear a whine that gradually gets worse. Having said all of that, I've seen one run years like that - howling noise & all. They are tough! Easy enough to pull & check. If it is cracked/broken, stick it back in until you can hunt down another 3rd member (it'll be ok even if it is noisy). Has this rear ever been opened/worked on? If so, a remote possibility, but again one I've seen, is improper torque on one of the caps and actually having the adjusting nut pop over one or two threads creating the type of backlash you describe. If that's the case, you can probably just loosen the bearing caps a bit, tighten the loose (it'll be the ring gear side) adjusting nut until you get the preload back where it needs to be and torque everything back. You should be OK from there. Good luck!
Flat...thanks bro...but the pinion has NO play at all in and out or up and down.....only when I try to turn the wheels back and forth with the yoke.....like a "loose" backlash (?).A friend said he had the crush nut loosen up on him and when he re-tightened it cured it ?? same thing or no ?? Seems my garage gremlin has my 1/1'16" socket or I woulda tried to BACK it off to see if the nut had any torque to it....nothin' is leaking either...just that "slop" when ya TURN the pinion back and forth....what SHOULD the nut be torqued to ??? Thanks, Jersey Skip
OK--- The pinion nut is loose AS HELL !! backed it off with a hand-held wrench WITHOUT holdin' the wheels OR puttin' on the e-brake !! can I re-tighten ?? how tight ?? wing it with an air gun or tourque to a specefic rating ??? how much ?? Hope this does it....changed both u-joints anyway-- one was a little "dirty" but wasn't the problem....hopin' the LOOSE NUT is !!! Thanks guys...... Jersey Skip
Well I just went through this with the rear in my 55 Fairlane. We actually counted the turns it took to get it off and then counted the nut back on, so that everything would in theory be the same. It was not and it leaked really bad. It started as a small drip, then it became a steady stream pissing out from under the nut. The guy that fixed it uses small shims that recrush the sleeve, which allow it to seal again, but that happens when you tighten the pinion nut to spec, making sure you have the proper pre-load on the bearings. I hope that makes sense. The quick and dirty...It will probably leak BAD if you just tighten it.
Deyo, Were you removing/replacing the yoke? If so, that's why - most of the time you'll pop the spring off the back of the seal & you're right, they'll leak like a seive in no time flat. In Skip's case, it doesn't sound like the yoke has been off (and if it isn't, don't!) - he should be OK just tightening it as far as the leak goes anyway...
OK---- for any one that would like to know I FINALLY found the problem..... But first---I tightened the nut on the yoke---took out all the "slop".....noise still there---replaced BOTH u-joints...same....THEN....I jacked it up again and noticed the 3/4" lowering blocks (made from 3/4" channel had COLLAPSED about 1/4" !!!!! Took them out---TIGHTENED the U-bolts ( that HAD to be loose ALL THE TIME allowing the rear to move VERY SLIGHTLY--but enough to make the " CLUNK " !!!)SO..... Just tightening the U-bolts that hold the rear in position woulda'a FIXED IT !!!! DUH !!! it's always something small you overlook---ya know what I mean ???? THANKS GUYS for all the input...... Jersey Skip
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