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Pickups Dodge Dakota Dodge Dakota Suspension and Axles
113 messages, Last post on Oct 22, 2009 at 4:47 PM
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My front differential just started making a noise like a flat tire flopping on the road. I took the cover off and everything looked fine. When I had it up on jack stands I turned the front tires and could hear a lesser version of the noise but still could not pinpoint the problem.
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dodge96, hope you find your problem. If you check post #61 in this thread, there is a link to Dodge Dakota 4x4 Issues. I looked there and the last two posts talk about noise that might be caused by a CV joint connecting to the front differential. I've had some pretty bad noise from an inner CV joint on another car, and found that one of the ball bearings inside had come loose and when I put the car in reverse, it sometimes sounded like someone was hitting underneath the car with a sledge hammer. Going forward, it was fine. After about 5 years (!), I replaced the joint.
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I got a vise-grip-attaching dial indicator from Harbor Freight (took 5 weeks to deliver!), rented a slide-hammer type axle bearing puller from Checker Auto Parts for $5 a day, bought 3 quarts of Royal Purple lubricant, bought new differential carrier bearings/races, had the old ones pulled and new ones pressed-on at a local machine shop, got new axle oil seals and went after the job of reinstalling the differential's internals. I didn't do a thing to the hypoid-cut pinion gear that sticks into the differential's box on the end of the drive shaft, and hope my only problem was the carrier bearings. It really didn't take too long to establish the amount of backlash (free movement) between the pinion gear and the big ring gear. Before removing the differential carrier, I just stuck the dial indicator against a ring gear tooth and worked the ring gear back and forth by hand (the axles had been pulled from their tubes) until it looked as though I had found what seemed like the average backlash all around the ring gear. I suppose I checked four different ring gear positions. Then I loosened the carrier bearing cap bolts and eased the heavy carrier out and inspected what I could see. It all looked good except for the carrier bearings, which were badly pitted both on the rollers and the race surfaces. I installed the whole business, following carefully the procedure found in http://www.dippy.org/svcman/sm03a.html It was a little difficult getting the little pinion gears of the "spider" into the right positions to mesh with the side gears and then slip the pinion gear shaft back in. The pinion gears kept falling out and I had to reinstall them and sometimes search for a cup washer that would drop into recesses in the case. Eventually I got them in, slipped their shaft in, and soon had it all in and looking correct. I continued on, checking the ring and pinion gear backlash then going from side to side of the pickup, using the big torsion bar to reach down the axle tubes and tighten or loosen the carrier bearing adjusters until it seemed to me from the dial indicator readings that I had a suitable backlash, then I tightened the carrier bearing caps and using a borrowed plumber's pipe wrench on the end of the torsion bar, put a guessed 70 ft-lbs of torque on the adjuster on both carrier bearings. My only mishap was to read 90 in-lbs as 90 lb-lbs for the torque to put on the bolt securing the adjuster lock. (It seems those small bolts actually don't need as much torque after all!) I sheared a bolt and had to go to NAPA to get a replacement. The salesman there recommended I buy a set of left-handed drill bits to back the sheared bolt out. It worked! I never knew there was such a thing as a left-handed drill bit before that day. Putting the axles in was an simple job, and the "C" lock rings on the end of the axles go in easily, although they liked to fall out of their slot into the gears and dark places in the case if I was not careful. Amazing that those little rings are the only things preventing the rear axle from pulling out of the differential. I used Royal Purple "Max-Gear" 75-90W lubricant because the race performance shop had only that and Shaeffer oils in stock. Maybe I should have gone by often-repeated recommendations on this board and got Red Line. As it was, the Royal Purple cost $14 a quart! Well, it's in there. There is an interesting study done by Amsoil comparing all the differential lubes that makes it look as though Royal Purple wasn't the best choice. The study is available to read on-line through https://www.amsoil.com/products/gearlubes/WhitePaper.aspx?zo=1173195 I cleaned up the cover and differential case and put sealant (butyl rubber calk-hope it works out) and bolted it back on. So far, no trace of an oil leak there or at the axles. The hardest part of the whole job was putting the rear brakes back on. All the springs and adjusters and tangs and slots that have to fit just-right made it a real time-consumer for me. With that finally done, I soon had the tires back on and the pickup off the jack stands. Generally I get so excited at the end of a big job that I rush the "tires on the ground" step. In the past, I have forgotten about a bottle of welding gas behind a car and knocked it over, and on another occasion forgot about axle stands and backed off them and put a big dent in a fuel tank. This time I actually looked around the pickup and underneath for any potential dangers before getting behind the steering wheel and starting the engine. The rear end is quiet now, and the swishing/grinding noise is gone. However I notice a whining that comes and goes with load, and I think it might be the pinion gear-ring gear adjustment being a little loose. If the noise is too much I might eventually do something about like what was done on a Jaguar as detailed by a real do-it-yourselfer at http://bernardembden.com/xjs/diff/index.htm
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Replying to: tjfitz (Mar 25, 2008 2:42 am)
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| My front differential just started making a noise like a flat tire flopping on the road. I took the cover off and everything looked fine. When I had it up on jack stands I turned the front tires and could hear a lesser version of the noise but still could not pinpoint the problem. | |
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Replying to: tjfitz (Mar 25, 2008 5:07 am) Even though I have rebuilt engines and maintained mechanical things all my life - I do not think I would attempt what you have done. I suppose you were NOT laying on your back in a dirt driveway - LOL |
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Hi all; I have been busy but using my 01 QC 4x4, 4.7,auto. Just turned 100k miles. I had to replace front driver bearing  85k and just did passenger front at 99k. Now I notice the driver output side on the front differential is leaking. Sort of out of the seal where the axle shaft goes in. Anyone else have this. Could it be my axles need to be replaced. ( I do hear clunking noises from the front end when I go over slight bumps-but I live with it.) they do not seem to make noises when I turn -so I thought the cv's are ok. It's almost as if somthing is loose. Could it be play in my axles? anyone have any experiences with these problems? Thanks for any and all input. Tom. |
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Replying to: dodge96 (Mar 25, 2008 7:48 pm) The noise I had came from one of the inner CV joints and was truly scary. I thought I was breaking the driveline into pieces. I took the inner CV joint apart, and one of the balls was slipping out of its race and back in. I popped the ball back in and closed-up the CV and hoped for the best, and kept driving for five years. I just couldn't see paying big-bucks for a new inner CV joint. It seemed the only rebuilt ones were the outer CV joints because they are generally the ones to wear-out and I suppose there is a bigger market for them. Somehow I went for five more years and then bought two reconditioned inner joints from a man in Ocala, Florida. He is an interesting character, a veteran of the U.S. Army airborne and now supplying CV joints for any car you can name (I think). I don't know if your scary noise and shock is from a CV joint but it could be. Sorry I can't be much more help, but best of luck to you! |
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Now that I have been reading a flurry of appends about front/rear differential issues... I am SOOOO GLAD that I switched to RedLine lubricants when my Dak was just cutting its first tooth. (less than 20,000 miles) The true synthetic basestock (NOT like Mobil1) of RedLine has protected all my Dakota gearcases. (manual xmission, xFerCase, differentials...etc) I anticipate that my gearcases will never EVER have any measurable wear due to running RedLine lubes. (Over the useful life of my Dakota.)
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Replying to: bpeebles (Mar 27, 2008 5:10 pm) |
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