I'm hearing a "Grumbling" noise coming from the front right of the car as I am driving (40-50 mph) and also on right hand turns. I have read about  "clicking" noise from the cv axle when they go bad do ya'll think it could be the same thing? That axel has about 60k on it while the left side has I'm assuming 174k what gives? lol

 

Thanks!

Aftermarket replacements arent great. Growling could be a CV, I had one growling on my last car. Could also be a wheel bearing on its way out

Jack up so the wheel is off the ground and spin it by hand. If the is a grinding noise, replace the bearings.

It seems intermittent. On my way home today I heard it a couple of times and not during a right hand turn like I did this morning. I was wondering about the bearings too. I'll check it out this evening. Any sure way to diagnose the CV axle?

Took a look at it and didn't hear a grinding noise when I spun the tire. I felt some play when I moved the tire typical to bad bearings. I noticed that my castle nut was moving and I could jiggle it with my fingers. The cotter pin was still in place so I couldn't take the nut off. I tightened the castle nut and drove it around the block no issues. So I guess I'll keep an eye on it.

does it usually only happen at one speed, or is it constant when the rig is in motion?

Edited September 22, 20169 yr by ClassySoob

does it usually only happen at one speed, or is it constant when the rig is in motion?

In motion and I would say intermittent. Sometimes I hear it at low speeds 35 mph and also at high speeds 65 mph. But since I tightened my castle nut I haven't heard it at all.

Loose nut can do that. Hub, bearings, splines, brake rotor can all move around in ways they are not supposed to ...

that loosness was definitely the issue.  will it come back?

 

is it EA81's that have the concave nut or washer or something that has to be installed in one direction or EA82's?  

There should be a cone shaped thick washer - more like a wedge. It fills in the chamfer on the hub, and provides a flat face for the spring washer. Then a thinner .2" ish. Spring washer - rounded convex side faces nut.

Every one I've had from 1974 through 1993 has that arrangement but they changed from a nut with a Ridge that you hammer to the castle nut cotter pin somewhere between.

that loosness was definitely the issue.  will it come back?  

In my experiance, once this happens the hub is toast. Ive had it happen a couple times now. I try to keep extra hubs in stock but they arent always easy to find and many times when Im at the j-yard I dont have my giant sockets with me.

In my experiance, once this happens the hub is toast. Ive had it happen a couple times now. I try to keep extra hubs in stock but they arent always easy to find and many times when Im at the j-yard I dont have my giant sockets with me.

I have been driving it for the last couple days and it seems fine so far fingers crossed lol

Maybe recheck it in a week. If you got it before stuff started getting torn up, it should be ok. I had maybe 1 or 2 that made noise, and found loose, but I checked them right away, tightned, and they were fine.

Ive never figured ot if this is caused by the condition of the hub/axle splines, an issue with the conical washer/seat, lock washer or an installation issue. When it starts the splines seem to get "thinned". The first time it happened to me it was on a recent purchase. I tightened and many months later it returned. Retourqed and then a couple months later I replaced the hub on that side and it never happened again. The splines were no longer a tight fit. Oddly enough the axle splines seem unaffected. Ive had one completely stripped out and reused the axle with a different hub.

The axles are hardened, the hubs are just cast. For the splines to be worn like that, it was loose for a good while. How one gets looose, yeah, odd. There isn't really any normal way for anything to wear - the parts are all stacked and compressed by the big nut. If it was assembled correctly.

When I did my brakes was the last time I had the hub off probably a year ago. I didn't have the correct size socket so I just used a big crescent wrench and tightened them up as much as I could. I'm not sure how this one got loose beings there is a cotter pin preventing the nut from spinning. I only recently heard the noise coming from that side. It was intermittent so I wrote it off. That car makes all kinds of different noises so I would be a real busy guy if I tried to track them all down lol. I checked into this noise because it was new and I heard it a few times more frequently. Anyway I will check for tightness in another day or so. Probably time to expand my socket collection to torque them down properly. Oh darn I have to get more tools

You should really get the right size socket and a torque wrench to go with it. 

It's not likely you got to around 150ftlbs without a big breaker bar or handle extender. It seemed tight, but with heating and cooling and the dynamic loads from driving, things shifted and the looseness became apparent.

I agree. I will pick up a socket for it tomorrow. What size 32,33mm? Got the torque wrench already.

Edited September 28, 20169 yr by loyale1993

Axle nut is 36mm on ea 82 era cars.

It's not likely you got to around 150ftlbs without a big breaker bar or handle extender. It seemed tight, but with heating and cooling and the dynamic loads from driving, things shifted and the looseness became apparent.

I was pretty much right on the money. I bought a socket and checked the torque of all 4 axel nuts and they were all pretty close to 150 lbs. So, with that said, a 235 lbs. guy standing on a 12" crescent wrench adding 3-4 bounces is equal to 150 ft lbs. of torque. It is proven science

Yeah that would do it. Good to know for sure though.