MoscowSubaruDude Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Okies... got an 83 wagon last friday, took it out for a run after tightening everything down tight, etc. Ran fine. Went out to seven-mile orv park, spun the cup in the drivers front axle, no prob, remove that, pop it into 4wd, go home. Now, on the way home, it starts making a rotary grinding noise. Coming from rear diff/axle/hub assy. Can't pinpoint it down, as it only does it while it's moving, and I'm not one for hanging to the underside of the car. It DOES sound like it's coming from the inner DOJ's, or else the guts of the diff. At low speed, aka rolling it with the engine off, by hand, with me under the car, it takes on a clicking noise. I'm going after pull-n-save axles tomorrow, hopefully that's the problem, but the one thing i'm worried about is the diff. There was a point where I got quite stuck on a berm, and had to be pulled out. The diff was the sole support point for the car for a good 15 feet, wondering if we goobered it up somehow. Any suggestions? it'd be grand, this is really startin to piss me off, as it's very embarrasing to roll into the parking lot at work and hear a scree-scree-scree noise. Anything that anyone might suggest, I'll give it a shot, and I'll be monitoring the thread once daily. Thanks a million folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NV Zeno Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Hmmm... Could be worn wheel bearings. (My 2 bucks) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Yeah - I say rear wheel bearing too. Remove both rear axles and retest. That will narrow it down. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted May 4, 2006 Author Share Posted May 4, 2006 Right... will check today when I have it torn down. Thanks a ton, letcha know how it turns out. Oh and... errr... any special tools needed to do bloody bearings? I'm mechanically competent, just never done it. Thanks! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Ok... narrowed down the noise, coming from the passenger side wheel bearing/axle nut area. Evidently, the problem is that the splines on both the drum and the half-an-axle (not the axle itself, just the piece that the drum sits on) are moderately worn, as well as the little cone-type spacer/centering ring. What happens is that the drum is moving in relation to the splined shaft, rather than remaining solidly hooked up. Makes a lot of noise, and might kill the shaft. I replaced the centering ring, and it seems to have shut up for now, however, it's only a temporary fix. What causes this? Still running in rwd only, haven't been able to find a decent axle yet, and if that spline gives way, like it did on my last wagon, I'm screwed. I'd prefer to fix the cause, not just the symptom. Any ideas? First thing that comes to mind is to replace the shaft/drum, but if there's an underlying cause, it'll just come back. Thanks in advance for any thoughts. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Smith Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 when this happens to me I also get black dust around the castle nut, this means I have the spring washer on wrong way round. Be sure the wide part is towards the castle nut, narrow side to the cone washer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86ruguy Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 the axle wears out the hub because it is not torqued properly, they have to be tight or the axle "rocks" back and forth in the hub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoscowSubaruDude Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 I torqued em all down using a socket and a 24 inch ratchet, stood on the end and jumped. If that's not enough torque, I haven't the foggiest what is:P So should the axle be fine? It'd be so much simpler to just snag another drum, no biggie really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Well - it's not actually the "axle" you are dealing with here.... First - I would do just what you did - torque it down (pehaps with a new cone washer, as they are usually worn too much to work at that point), and see where things go. If it comes back (ie: loosens up again), then you NEED to replace the stub shaft (actually a seprate part - NOT the axle. The axle is splined to the stub), hub, and cone washer. If you don't replace them all, it will just keep wearing out hubs and grinding the axle stub to dust. The cone washer is most important, but once the thing has been loose and driven that way, the washer is toast, the conical section of the hub is toast, usually the splines are ripped out of the hub, and the axle stub splines are sanded down the point where the fittment to the hub is no good (even a new hub) and the whole mess will repete itself. Just get all three from the junk yard, and with all that metal dust that has just passed by your bearing seals, you are going to want to seriously consider doing that wheel bearing while you have it apart too. I would go with a new bearing, but a JY one in good shape will do the job too - they generally last 200k or more in the rear if not contaminated and properly torqued. I've got 25k on one from a Brat with 193k on it.... I swapped the entire trailing arm to prevent the possibility of wrecking the bearing durring removal. They can be drifted out with a brass punch if you are careful. New they cost around $50 each. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.