Ron Helmuth

Diagnosis from a distance- help appreciated guys:

I've had the drivers side axle seal replaced before-about 3 years ago now and it seems to be holding up fine-no sign of leakage....but...

I have some type of roaring noise variable to speed -going on at (I believe) the drivers side rear. Very occasionally when coming to a complete stop there will be 2 small grinding type of noises within the last 5 feet or so of the stop.

I'm reading $$ expensive postings about when the axle bearings go bad, is there a way to be sure what is causing the rear end noise without removing everything back there?

Any reason to suspect just a rear drum brake issue? Simply jack the rear end up-put it in neutral and spin the wheels and check for drag?

Any thoughts appreciated/welcomed.

PismoJoe

Throw it in the air and have someone speed up and slow down while you listen to the rear end.

It could be a back brake related issue, or a wheel bearing issue, but it sounds more like a brake issue from what you are describing. Wheel bearings tend to have a more consistent grinding, rather than just at the tail end of coming to a stop.

Drum brake R&R is very simple. Chances are you have plenty of shoe material left in the back, and they are just out of adjustment. Pop off the drum cover, and clean everything with brake kleen spray. Don't go overboard with this, if you spray off the grease behind the shoes, it will make them loud. Clean the inside of the drum cover as well, and wipe it clean.

Then take some very fine metal type of sandpaper, and sand the glaze off the shoe pad material. Not too much, just so they aren't shiny anymore.

Now reinstall the cover and the wheel, and get the vehicle in the air. Now for the adjustment. On the back of the drum (where the axle bolts to the axle housing) there will be a rubber plug. Remove this plug, and look inside, there is a sprocket with small teeth that is now visible. You need to move this with a flathead screwdriver to adjust it.(UP= tighteter adjustment, DOWN = looser adjustment IIRC) Spin the wheel with your hand to determine how much adjustment is needed. The wheel should make about 1 revolution and then stop. The goal is to have to rear brakes dragging very very slightly. So go through this adjustment process with both wheels until they are both slightly dragging at equal rates. The tire and rim must be installed while doing these adjustments.

Ron Helmuth

thanks Pismo Joe-that's a lot more than I knew

J2F42C

Ron,

Click on the link I posted here about 6 months ago. You may have to join tundrasolutions.com to see the PDF, but it is well worth it.

The shoes may be sticking. Before pulling everything off though, pull the boots off the bellcrank to see if they move freely or not. Rust does not treat them well.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f120...brakes-217800/

Ron Helmuth

thanks-brake work a lot less pricey than axle work and having been given this hookup J2F42C I will give that a try on my own first.

Appreciate the link.

Ron Helmuth

an update on the mystery noise-

It appears to be something rattling in the frame rail or possibly one of the doors. Took off the driver's inside door panel and found some loose plastic pieces-but nothing metallic. The noise occurs now on abrupt stops and rapid acceleration. I'm going to try to pinpoint the location a bit more before taking off any other door panels.

Brakes checked out fine at all 4 corners. They observed the noise and mentioned it is something like a "ball"-it rolls forward when braking and to the rear upon acceleration.

Had my clutch replaced this week, and tech verified the right rear axle bearing is beginning to fail. He also feels the axle half shaft on the passenger side is somewhat bent-not a lot but just a bit.

Replacement half shaft to cost $250 and a couple of hours of labor to swap brake hardware and install new recommended axle (oil) seal on that side.