arebee123
New Member
- Joined
- December 19, 2002
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Sonora, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '91 XLT
First, I want to preface this by saying that I've read through many many (very informative, I might add) posts where people have various humming/clunking symptoms in their drivetrain, but I haven't yet found anything quite identical to my situation.
That said, I have a '91 5-speed X, with a James Duff 2.5" lift and I'm running 31x10.50x15" tires.
The noise I perceive from the drivers seat is like this: It's a speed-specific hum that increases and decreases depending on my speed. I feel it mostly in the gas pedal and (if you can picture this in your head) in my foot as I rest my (left) foot against the transmission hump in the interior of the vechicle as i depress/let off on the gas pedal.
I also feel the vibration/hum in the steering wheel "somewhat". Lately I feel a bit of a "rotational" clunk through my foot on the gas pedal. This is leading me to believe the problem is progressively getting worse.
The tricky part is my ear tells me its coming from the front right area of the vehicle though. But I dont trust that because from my perspective in the drivers seat I know the sound may *appear* from one direction but might in reality be right underneath me (like the tranny or rear driveshaft)
Now, onwards to what I've done and already diagnosed:
-Rotated tires (no effect)
-Checked front wheel bearings (first old-school style, checked lateral play in the tires, none.. practically brand new bearings, smooth as can be).. I will check again tonite though, to be sure.
-Front axle half-shaft u-joints appear to be fine, not siezed up, not overly loose.
-I have manual lock-out hubs in the front and I'm in 2H (unlocked) so I'm gonna rule out the front diff and driveshafts as they shouldnt be moving anyways.
Here's where it gets fun. I havent checked the rear driveshaft or diff and I know my 5-speed is dying. It's getting harder and harder to put it in 1st gear from neutral. Like when at a stop light and you take your foot off the clutch, in neutral. when you are about to put it back in first, it wont go with out seriously putting muscle into it, or going into like 4th then back into 1st. Also shifting from 1st to 2nd is becoming more and more of a pain-in-ass. I pretty much know my syncros are going out and i have serious slop in the shifter itself and i get nasty feedback through the shifter in 3rd gear.
So, I plan on having the tranny replaced or rebuilt within the next week or so, but I want to know if my progressively worsening noise could be from my poor tranny, or maybe the rear driveshaft??
Key note: this noise has appeared and worsened *after* installing the 2.5" lift, so that is why I'm thinking rear driveshaft (because of the slightly greater angles on the u-joints, coupled with the 130,000 miles on the rig, that its starting to show its age). The tranny's been screwed up since before the lift though.
Not wanting to make a long-winded post longer, I'm gonna end it here and look for feedback. I'll give any more input I can as it's being asked for.
I intend to visually inspect (again) the drivetrain tonite/this weekend and try to solve this problem before I take the truck in to get the tranny/clutch overhauled. (I might save myself a little cash)
Thanks for reading this,
Ryan
1991 5-speed XLT
2.5" James Duff lift
That said, I have a '91 5-speed X, with a James Duff 2.5" lift and I'm running 31x10.50x15" tires.
The noise I perceive from the drivers seat is like this: It's a speed-specific hum that increases and decreases depending on my speed. I feel it mostly in the gas pedal and (if you can picture this in your head) in my foot as I rest my (left) foot against the transmission hump in the interior of the vechicle as i depress/let off on the gas pedal.
I also feel the vibration/hum in the steering wheel "somewhat". Lately I feel a bit of a "rotational" clunk through my foot on the gas pedal. This is leading me to believe the problem is progressively getting worse.
The tricky part is my ear tells me its coming from the front right area of the vehicle though. But I dont trust that because from my perspective in the drivers seat I know the sound may *appear* from one direction but might in reality be right underneath me (like the tranny or rear driveshaft)
Now, onwards to what I've done and already diagnosed:
-Rotated tires (no effect)
-Checked front wheel bearings (first old-school style, checked lateral play in the tires, none.. practically brand new bearings, smooth as can be).. I will check again tonite though, to be sure.
-Front axle half-shaft u-joints appear to be fine, not siezed up, not overly loose.
-I have manual lock-out hubs in the front and I'm in 2H (unlocked) so I'm gonna rule out the front diff and driveshafts as they shouldnt be moving anyways.
Here's where it gets fun. I havent checked the rear driveshaft or diff and I know my 5-speed is dying. It's getting harder and harder to put it in 1st gear from neutral. Like when at a stop light and you take your foot off the clutch, in neutral. when you are about to put it back in first, it wont go with out seriously putting muscle into it, or going into like 4th then back into 1st. Also shifting from 1st to 2nd is becoming more and more of a pain-in-ass. I pretty much know my syncros are going out and i have serious slop in the shifter itself and i get nasty feedback through the shifter in 3rd gear.
So, I plan on having the tranny replaced or rebuilt within the next week or so, but I want to know if my progressively worsening noise could be from my poor tranny, or maybe the rear driveshaft??
Key note: this noise has appeared and worsened *after* installing the 2.5" lift, so that is why I'm thinking rear driveshaft (because of the slightly greater angles on the u-joints, coupled with the 130,000 miles on the rig, that its starting to show its age). The tranny's been screwed up since before the lift though.
Not wanting to make a long-winded post longer, I'm gonna end it here and look for feedback. I'll give any more input I can as it's being asked for.
I intend to visually inspect (again) the drivetrain tonite/this weekend and try to solve this problem before I take the truck in to get the tranny/clutch overhauled. (I might save myself a little cash)
Thanks for reading this,
Ryan
1991 5-speed XLT
2.5" James Duff lift
