DanMan2k06
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Damascus, MD
Came across something very strange while trying to diagnose a front end noise today. The slip joint in my rear driveshaft is totally seized. It's a factory front shaft used with an SYE. When I took the shaft out, I couldn't collapse or extend it by hand. It took a vice and a 4 lb sledge to finally get the two halves to move apart slightly. No grease, and lots of corrosion.
This make me wonder, when my suspension was cyling up and down, where did all that force go? The shaft is supposed to be compensating by extending or retracting. Something had to give? About 6 months ago my rear diff started making noise, and it's only gotten exponentially worse. I figured with 175k miles it could be any number of bearings going bad. But now I'm thinking the seized shaft could have been putting a lot of stress on both the axle and my transfer case. With the rear shaft out I wiggled the yoke clockwise and counter clockwise checking the backlash, and the yoke rotates a LOT. Way more than the .015" spec or whatever that it's supposed to have at setup.
This make me wonder, when my suspension was cyling up and down, where did all that force go? The shaft is supposed to be compensating by extending or retracting. Something had to give? About 6 months ago my rear diff started making noise, and it's only gotten exponentially worse. I figured with 175k miles it could be any number of bearings going bad. But now I'm thinking the seized shaft could have been putting a lot of stress on both the axle and my transfer case. With the rear shaft out I wiggled the yoke clockwise and counter clockwise checking the backlash, and the yoke rotates a LOT. Way more than the .015" spec or whatever that it's supposed to have at setup.