new tires rubbing/grinding noise when let off the gas...

I put on the new tires and wheels on my truck (31x10.50s on Black Rockcrawlers). They came balanced and mounted. After putting them on the truck, I now have a rubbing/grinding noise when I let off of the gas from the passenger front. I can feel it on the floor, and brake pedal, but it goes away as soon as I press on the gas, no matter how lightly I press the gas.

I thought that it might be the wheel bearings, so I replaced those and repacked them well, and that did not fix the problem.

A friend of mine suggested that it might be the tire is out of balance, other than that I can't think of what it would be.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated...

Dave

 

[BigDave]

Also, the noise and accompanying vibration occur at low speed too. I am going to put the stock tires back on tomorrow afternoon if I can't figure out what this is.

 

[hvac man]

Check your rear u-joints for any play

 

[BigDave]

rear U-Joints? On the drive shaft?

Would that cause noise to come from the front end?

Dave

 

[hvac man]

Yes. It will transfer through the entire drive train. I had the same problem, mine was the splines on the slip portion of the drive shaft. I also have a big lift, so check those drive shaft u-joints.

Stupid question but do you know how to do this properly? Anyway let me know.

BTW: larger tires = more strain on drive train, so you might have a lot of things that were worn but not showing up show up now.

 

[BigDave]

No, how do I check the u-joints on the drive shaft?

After listening to it from outside of the vehicle it may be coming from the rear....

Thanks,

Dave

 

[hvac man]

I just saw the "vibration" part and I am almost sure that it's your rear drive shaft u-joints.

 

[hvac man]

Park the car and set the e-brake put the tranny in nutral and get out and shake the shaft up and down turning a quarter at a time. If you get any movement at all from the u-joints they are bad. shake close to each end, one at a time. use firm pressure =)

 

[BigDave]

Can I continue to drive the truck with these or will they come apart and really screw me?

How do I go about changing them? It doesn't look to terribly difficult, but do you have to remove the drive shaft to get the u-joints off?

Dave

 

[hvac man]

Yes you can drive but they will break on the road some where not close to a phone, haha. They can also break and cause your drive shaft to hit the ground while driving and that is not good. Yes you have to remove the drive shaft, its not hard if you have done simmalar work befor but if not I would not try your self. They have to go in perfect or they will do the same thing.

 

[hvac man]

Hey Dave, if you check them and you think they are the problem remove the drive shaft and take it to mech. in your area. The shop that I used to work for only charged about 50 bucks if you brought the shaft in.

BTW: You can still drive with your front drive shaft(65 or so mph) while this is getting fixed.

 

[BigDave]

I don't think it is the U-joints, as I went out and tried to move the driveshaft and it would only twist a little bit.

The truck was in park, but there wasn't any real play that I could feel.

Dave

 

[hvac man]

Has to be in N so you can spin the shaft. Good luck anyway.

 

[BigDave]

I'll have to try it tomorrow...

 

[Jason_25]

Rear driveshaft U-joints? That's quite a diagnosis. Maybe you should check the wheel bearing on that side? They need to be greased every so often, but I imagine if the problem is this bad now, you may need new ones.

 

[Alec]

You know it's wrong to double post, so please don't do so.

 

[BigDave]

Originally posted by Jason_25
Rear driveshaft U-joints? That's quite a diagnosis. Maybe you should check the wheel bearing on that side? They need to be greased every so often, but I imagine if the problem is this bad now, you may need new ones.

That's the first thing I did. I replaced inner and outer wheel bearing on both sides tonight...

 

[BigDave]

I win the Darwin award of the week.... It turns out that the noise/vibration I was feeling was because I hadn't tightened one of the rear wheels all of the way and it was wobbling. I trashed the studs, lugs, and wheel...

So I have a new wheel being shipped to me and it should get here by Monday or Tuesday. Note to self...make sure that lugs are tightened (check them twce)....

Thanks for all of the suggestions and help though...

Dave

 

[hvac man]

I'm just glad to see you got it fixed.

 

[BigDave]

Me too, thanks for the tips on checking the drive shaft u-joints. When I had it checked, my mechanic told me that the joints are all still nice and tight...Makes me breathe a little easier putting these big meats on...

Dave