DaveAP Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 I suspect it to be worn splines in the wheel. Does that only happen on the drive side (passenger side?). When I have finished letting out the clutch I feel a slipping ,then grabbing (with a loud clunk). I feel like it is the right side but I just had that one apart, and I thought the splines looked ok, Not great, but 0k. That side has a new half axle. The other side axle seems a bit worn on the inboard side(closest to the tranny). I can move it quite a bit when checking it. I have never had an axle go out on me like this. I can also feel it in the steering wheel. If axles and splines aren't it, I'd be looking at maybe slipping clutch, or something wrong with the tranny. You can tell I'm grasping at straws here, anyone else ever have a major clunk experience? Thanks, dp "78 brat, 3" lift, 14's, weber, single range Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 It sounds like a clutch problem and maybe a bad tranny mount. Just start checking things to see if they are worn out/broken. If you have a loose/broken tranny mount, you'll get a nice clunking sounds...I know, had one that was crap on my '78 Brat:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasteland Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 I just chased a clunck around in a friends '85 hatch. It started as a bad CV so I replace both sides, still there. repacked both wheel bearings, still there. swapped out the rotors, still there. freaked out and cured the gods, still there. Turns out one of the remanned axles was bad, I should have checked it first but it just didn't act like a bad CV. So my advice is start with the simple stuff, or the most obvious first. If you need , I've got a set of nonvented rotors off of my '81 wgn that have good splines and still some meat on them, just let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted July 27, 2004 Author Share Posted July 27, 2004 thanks WasteL, I don't know if they will match with an ea-71 axle. Are there any differences between ea71-81's in axle lengths or spline count? It would be nice if they were the same. There's alot more ea81's around than gen. ones. I am considering doing the drivers side axle and look at the splines on that side also. What side is the drive axle on our brats? (front and rear) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78TurboBrat Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 when i pulled my 78 brat apart to do the turbo swap into it, the driver side hub was stripped clean and smooth. luckily the hub from the ea82 wagon worked fine, but i know in my case the axels wouldnt work as they were too long. and have different spline counts on the trans side, but the hubs are the same. rotors are different but those unbolt and put the brat ones on them. Hope your problem doesnt turn out to be what mine was and end up being the front diff. Good luck and keep us posted as to what you find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted July 27, 2004 Author Share Posted July 27, 2004 I'm going to pull that side off today. I'll see what's up then. I have fresh rotors to install. I did the passenger side yesterday. Everything is new on that side. So you think the hubs will match,that would be good. I have a spare ea81 laying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted July 27, 2004 Author Share Posted July 27, 2004 the hubs do match, ea71 to 81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 Ea81 and EA71 axles are almost the same. I have only noticed one difference between them when I had one lying next to the other. The EA81 axle is like maybe an inch longer than the EA71. Other than that, they are the same. If your hubs are worn out and you also need to do a brake job, I can help you upgrade your front disks from non-vented to vented. It very simple, grab the front calipers and rotors from an 84-newer EA81 vehicle and they bolt right on. You will have to use the EA71 backing plates but there are no other major differences. Idid just that but I also made new stabilizer bars for the EA81 control arms so I have the vented rotors, capliers, control arms and backing plates from an EA81 car:D Found it wasn't too hard either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 After more inspection I am leaning toward tranny mounts. I put a jack under the rear end of the tranny. The passenger side lifts more than a 1/4" until it hits the mount . I suspect it is missing the rubber on that side. Anyone know another way to check them? Are the mounts interchangeable with the ea81's ? I have a wtb add in the marketplace for a new set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted August 2, 2004 Author Share Posted August 2, 2004 the tranny mounts do match, ea 81 and 71. I didn't have a real good one, but just to experiment I pulled both off, put in the replacement and swapped left to right. Didn't make a difference. Does anyone have a shade tree method of checking the tranny. If I lift the front end and spin the wheels, can I tell anything by that. I was talking with moosens, he had a similar problem, ended up being in the tranny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78TurboBrat Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Well the 83 brat i just finnished pulling the transmission on had a problem in the spider gears making a really bad sound almost like someone hitting it with a sledge hammer when you were driving the vehichle slow, you could feel the car jerk. even with the car not running just put the car in neutral and we pushed it around it would make the clunking sound and could see the motor and trans move accordingly with the clunking. havent exactly pulled the transmission apart yet, but am going to sometime today or tomorrow, and i will post pics of what i find. In my findings i noticed that everytime i put the car up on jackstands and then back on the ground it got worse. of course i checked the simple things like axels stub axels hubs and so on, and all seemed to be in great shape, so the only thing left to do was to replace the trans, i replaced the trans and presto, car runs great as it use to. shame though cause i couldnt find another 3at 4wd tranny in good enough shape to trust it, so i went with a 2wd unit for now until i find a good 4wd unit. The 4wd to 2wd swap was really easy, just drilled two new holes in the 4wd crossmember to allow the mount to be bolted down. everything else hooked up like it was suppose to, except the plugs for the wiring was different, i left them disconnected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted August 3, 2004 Author Share Posted August 3, 2004 I have a spare tranny around. I suppose I'm gonna have to think about doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78TurboBrat Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 I also have two trannys laying in the back of the shop, so if you end up needing one just $25.00 + shipping would be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 That's a good price on those. Thanks. I'll give the one I have a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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