I am hearing a little but of noise from the 10-bolt (70 Nova???) I have in my 52 Chevy. It is pretty faint, but I just got a new, quieter exhaust with 30" Smiffys, so I really don't know if it's been doing it that long. To put things in perspective on the level of noise: -Wind/road noise over 35 mph will be loud enough that it drowns out the rear end noise -If I so much as put the weight of my foot on the gas pedal, the exhaust will be loud enuff to drown out this noise -If I turn my radio volume down to the point that I can just barely tell its' on, it will be equal to the noise -I can't tell if it's gear noise or bearing noise, but it is definitely directly related to vehicle speed (not engine speed) -I just put a Chassis Engineering rear leaf spring set up on the car, which did 2 things that may or may not contribute to this: 1) harder rubber bushings in the springs might be transferring more noise to the frame; and 2) I welded new spring perches to the axle tubes. Tho I was careful not to weld too much at a time (I have done this many times before on other cars), I suppose it's possible that I could have warped the axle tube(s) and put undue stress on the bearings. (I really doubt this would be the case, but...) So, am I paranoid, or did I just get an excuse to go looking for a posi with deeper gears than 2.73?
Might have changed the pinion angle a little, a little change in drive line angle could cause the noise.
Get under the car and look for leaks. Check that it is up to level and check the U joints while you're at it. I bought one that we thought was the rear making noise once. Turned out the rear was fine but the U joints were about shot and grinding up the needle bearings.. Maybe it needs the sawdust replaced.
[ QUOTE ] Might have changed the pinion angle a little, a little change in drive line angle could cause the noise. [/ QUOTE ] Hmmm. Very true. But I did check that the pinion and the tranny tailshaft were on the same angle, but not directly in line with each other. This was checked with the full weight of the car on the springs, and checked each time I made a tack weld on the perches. (I pulled the rear & perches back ouot to finish welding after tacking them while in position under the car... again, full weight on the springs) So everything should be good, no?
With stock gears you really shouldn't hear any gear noise, pinion bearing could be loaded with more pressure by any angle change.
Yeah, I was thinking it shouldn't be making any noise. SJ- I've checked for leaks, but I'll definitely check again. I haven't seen any around the pinion, rear cover, wheel bearing area, or even where I welded the perches. I've also heard that hamburger meat does better than sawdust!
I bought a rear end and a muncie M-21 from a kid who had them in a Luv truck. Both were filled with ATF. You never know till you stick your little pinky in there...
those old 10 bolts often have bad axles and wheel bearings in them. the wheel bearing is just a roller, the axle shaft acts as the inner race, and they are prone to wear, pitting, etc. Especially since it's likely that no one changed the oil in it ever during the donor car's life. I have a bad habit of pulling used rearends apart, because I've had to put bearings and other parts in most of them.
The Jalopy Journal
