Red3quarter

Ok, I think my front axle is in need of a rebuild. The symptoms are when going about 65-75 mph in 2HI the truck has a whirring noise and vibration coming from under my feet. Noise doesn't happen at any other speed of RPM. I double checked to make sure it was not the rear end by jacking it up and running the truck to 75 rpm. Now in 4Hi my truck will make the same noise at about 45-40 mph and then again at 60-65 mph. I try not to go faster than 65 mph in 4wd. I can say it is not the wheel bearings as they are new, the ujoints in the axles and both drive shafts are less than a year old, plus when I had changed all these parts the noise never went away. I do have new tires so I can rule out a out of round, out of balanced, or bad tire. The wheels are not bent. I am guesing its the front axle because i can feel it under my feet. I'm thinking it is in the carrier. I have an early 2002 with the CAD axle if that helps.

Now, to my question. What all do I need to rebuild the front axle? What parts, special tools,pullers, or presses? I've never rebuilt a dana axle, done a couple eaton semi axles but never a dana pick up axle. How much would it be roughly if a 4x4 shop did the rebuild? I feel I could rebuild this on my own, I am a diesel mechanic but I work on locomotives now. They don't have differentials and I have had limit experience on diffs when i worked on semis.


Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help!

dozer12216

Before you go ripping into diff blind, try more figuring. Pull front shaft and try. Inspect transfer case fluild level and for contamination. Perhaps pull front diff cover and isnpect for damage/wear, ect. Bent drive shaft???? What is frequency??? belly shake or ear drum beating???

Red3quarter

The case doesn't leak fluid, but I will check it again tomorrow after work for contamination and its level.

I have pulled the front shaft a couple weeks ago, noise was still there.

Did the fluid change in both front and rear diffs, there was no noticable particles in the oils. They were just dark in color. Nothing looked broken or worn from what I could tell.

Front drive shaft was rebuilt by a very reputable 4x4 shop, they checked balance after rebuilding.

Now I did notice a small dent (size of a dime) near the front yoke on the rear shaft. Could this be causing my noise maybe out of balance? Also can I pull the rear shaft, engage the 4wd and drive it down the highway without any problems to check to see if the rear shaft is my problem?

The whirring noise I am getting is like a pulsation. it goes Hi tone-Low tone-Hi tone and so on. It doesn't vibrate the truck much. I can feel it some what in the floor and in the steering wheel. To me it sounds like a wheel bear but both are new.

Sorry for making everything long, but I am not great at diagnosing driveline problems.

wurkenman

I put a set of tires on my truck and had all kinds of wobbling , and balance issues. I had the tires balanced three separate times and ended up being the tires I bought were all out of round from new. That is why I will never buy Dunlop tires again. Don't be so quick to rule out the tires just because they are new.

Red3quarter

Well I can rule them out because they ride alot better than the old tires did. I had a old tire that was out of round and you could feel it. The other three were bald and had chunks missing from them bgecause of the bad roads around here. The new ones ride smooth down the road, no wobble, or anything. I have coopers now and love them, I had goodyears prior to them and they were the worst tire I have owned.

I'm still thinking this is a mechanical issuse in the driveline.

wurkenman

It was just a passing thought.

Red3quarter

I appriciate it, I still might swap out the wheels and tires with a friends just as a precaution but I am pretty sure it's not the tires.

Red3quarter

Anyone else?

Mike D

If you pull the rear shaft you'll loose fluid out of the transfer case. Have you ever put the truck up with all tires off the ground and tried to run it gear to see if the noise is there?

Red3quarter

I have ran the truck up in the air before and didn't have any noise. Thanks for the tip about pulling the shaft, I didn't know if fluid would leak or not. I have heard the output of the t-case has a threaded hole in the shaft, I might get a use yoke and drill a hole so I can bolt it to the shaft if its possible. I'm still thinkin the noise is somewhere up front and not in the rear end.