Chevy rearend issue

Alright, im having an issue with the rear in my 55 chev. I assume its the stock rear end considering the suspension on the car was entirely stock when i bought it. Now, to the problem, when driving slow going around a sharp corner as the RPM of the motor increases there is a heavy and loud clunk and the car kind of jerks to one side or the other, it happens more while making a left hand turn. I am thinking maybe a keeper came loose and the gears are banging together when they catch up the slop, or maybe some missing teeth in the spider gears or something?

any ideas or any good rear end guys know what this issue could be?


i'm hoping its a cheap fix as i just got the car back on the road after i dropped a ton of money replacing the radiator and heater core and a few other pieces. still need to afford stock wheels, new tires, and paint .

thanks in advance guys.

-Jr

 

i have one of those rears in my car..

nothing about them is really "cheap"
it should be easy to yank the pumpkin (it pulls out like a ford 9 inch after you pull the axles..

time to take it apart..

fwiw.. I have another 55 axle.. thats apart.. so if you need some pieces pf me..

 

Spider gears with missing teeth is my thought.

 

could be axle bearing going bad, mind made a noise like that,was a bad bearing on my 61

 

Only turn right, problem fixed....

 

Sounds like spider gears to me

 

sounds like I would not be driving it, I'd be taking it apart and fixing.

 

Look for another pumpkin and replace it.

 

yea, i figured it was the spider gears, it does it turning both directions and only when the rear is obviously catching up with its lash. we had the ass end jacked up and when you stop one wheel then the other you can feel and hear the gears banging (assuming its the gears) against eachother. know what little i do about rears, i would think that if it were a bearing i would hear a howling or squeeling noise. anyways.. looks like there is a trip to a shop to get the rear rebuilt.

 

actually.. seeing as how all i can seem to find are new ring and pinion gears, does anyone know where to get a complete third member or just the gear set???

 

It is easy to find a pumpkin for your '55. 55 to 64 will fit

 

i though it was the gears too, untill i pulled the axle on my 61 and the bearing fell out, did not make much of noise go down road, you got to pull them anyway, let us know what you find,

 

possibly a posi? if it is the clutches could be breaking loose when you turn. try changing the gear oil and put some sta-lube posi additive in it....

 

Checking the gear oil might tell you how bad the rear end is; by how metallic the oil looks.

 

Check the spring mounting bolts, if they are loose, it will pull the car to one side under acceleration and to the other side on decel

 

well, now going from when you have the car off the ground, and stop both wheels, and you hear a hellacious clunking in the rear end while the car is idiling in drive, would that really be bearings or loose u-bolts??? still havin' troubles finding parts in my price range. i found ring and pinion sets but thats about all.

 

If you run it long enough it will spit parts out and just follow the trail of oil and you'll find the problem.

Look for good used parts...but you need to take it apart first and find out what's broken.

 

check out ebay,under car parts ,i got a373 center there about a 1 year ago,

 

The reason I mentioned the loose ubolts is that my son bought a pickup and it had this problem. When you shifted gears, there was a clanking sound. We didnt realize the jerking from side to side until I drove behind him one day. The car jerked one way when he accelerated and the other when the shifted gears.
Then we got underneath and found the ubolts loose. I had never seen this before.
Its worth a look, it doesn't cost anything.

 

i will check them when the rain lets up haha

 

next august?

 

hahaha might as well be, im so sick of the north west. our car show season doesn't start till like freakin june!

 

I wish you were closer, I've got a complete axle assembly you can have.

 

dang, that woulda been helpful! anyone near by have anything?

 

I have a good used set of 4:86 gears for it. $100 and their yours.

 

Pull it apart and see what is wrong, then go get the parts. Is it a stick or automatic?

 

its a turbo 350, might call dutchman and see if they will take a look at it, i think a friend of mines dad works there.

Beep, those gears a lil steep for my application, i need something more like 3:08, good highway gears. as is it either needed lower ratio or an overdrive. at 65-75 or so the car just sounded wound out going down the highway, but it still had enough life to put my food down and it would continue to pull hard and pass people.

 

You need taller or higher gears; Beeps are lower gears. The lower the number the higher the gear.

 

shows what i know about rear ends! lol i always get that stuff backwards.

 

Use an S-10 4x4 rear end. Works great.Just change the spring pads. TOM (tired old man)