Gears growling 8.25

[Mnkyboy]

The installer has done many gear set ups over the years and is very good at it,and it wasn't the installer who said the gears were supposed to be noisy it was G2 themselves when the installer called them about it.

The OP has also called G2 and was told the same thing as the installer was told.

I doubt the install is the problem.

 

[Sneaky]

Re: Re: Gears growling 8.25

The installer has done many gear set ups over the years and is very good at it,and it wasn't the installer who said the gears were supposed to be noisy it was G2 themselves when the installer called them about it.

The OP has also called G2 and was told the same thing as the installer was told.

I doubt the install is the problem.

Agreed! I do not believe it to be installer error. After taking with the installer I believe there may be more than gear noise. The guy who installed my setup is being very helpful and is trying to help figure this out. He will be looking it over tonight and we will be looking for other possible causes. As anyone might notice here I have not disclosed who did it because I believe in his ability and have gotten positive feedback from others about him. He will be checking gear pattern among other things. I am very grateful he is willing to help me get to the bottom of this. He thinks it could be drive line issues so we will be looking over that as well.
I posted this thread cause what I am experiencing is noise that most assume is normal noise related to 8.25 axles when I tell them about it. I however am experiencing abnormal noise and this is getting related to normal by others as a generalization. In turn I'm getting frustrated thinking that this is something I have to live with.

 

[rockclimber]

I have dana 4.56 gears in my 8.25. they do not growl or whine.

 

[Mnkyboy]

Where did you find dana gears for a chrysler axle?

 

[RWKHausSupply]

get another set, have someone else install them. And then you will see that its the setup, not the gears that caused the issue.

8.25 gears are cut a bit differently but that doesnt mean they were not cut right. I would pull the cover and look at the ring gear and see if you see a letter K with a circle around it. If so (and I bet you do) then they are the common imported set that Nitro, Motive, etc, use in their boxed sets also.

In any case when someone says noisy gears, it should only be able to be heard in a wagon, with a street tire smaller then like a 30". And even then you should have to Listen for it to hear it. If its louder then that, then its install error.

FYI a 8.25 gear set that is off only .002" backlash will be very noisy and chew itself up FAST and be worthless in less then a few hundred miles. Its all about the install...

 

[rockclimber]

Where did you find dana gears for a chrysler axle?

4 wheel parts.

 

[Mnkyboy]

I wasn't aware that Dana offered gears for anything other then a Dana axle.

 

[Boostwerks.com]

I have dana 4.56 gears in my 8.25. they do not growl or whine.

Sure you don't mean Chry-Co?

 

[jeepboy381]

I had 4.88 nitro gears professionally installed in my dana 30 and 8.25. By the time I pulled my Jeep out of the driveway it sounded terrible and I turned around and pulled the front axle out to bring back to the gear installer. He looked them over, checked all tolerances, inspected every bearing, and said everything was fine. I didn't trust him so I proceeded to take the axle to a very well know gear guy who I trust very much. I paid him to do the setup all over again. He looked everything over like crazy, took it all apart, set them up more precisely, and they were still scary loud. We both confirmed with the jeep on the lift it was the gears in the front axle.

The gears made a rhythmic loud noise almost like they were hitting something, it sounded terrible! It was a growl like your describing. I said screw it and drove on them, they got quieter and quieter as they broke in. Nitro was a hassle to deal with and said the noise was normal and not all gears are quiet. I explained how loud they were and they didnt seem to care much. They wanted me to send the gears back for inspection to see if they met tolerances before they sent me a new set. THIS IS MY DAILY DRIVER, it would have been down for weeks. I didnt have the time, or money to do this..

The noise is still there after two years but nothing like it was before. After 1 year of hard use I pulled the cover and everything looked great, no worn parts and oil was very clean!

The gears in my 8.25 are also noisy but nothing bad. I have also heard of a few other people who have complained about Nitros 4.88 gears.

 

[bobnoxious]

Give us more info...tire size? Lift size? SYE?

Your driveshafts are spinning a lot faster now, and I bet you have a driveline vibe.

 

[Sneaky]

Re: Re: Gears growling 8.25

Give us more info...tire size? Lift size? SYE?

Your driveshafts are spinning a lot faster now, and I bet you have a driveline vibe.

6 inch lift with 33 inch tires JB Conversions short SYE with a Tatton drive line.

We found the CV joint is a little loose and is binding a little and the transfer case is making a weird clicking sound when spun by hand. The growl is very faint and similar when ran up to speed with the drive line removed. Also my crappy Rough Country shackles aren't isolated very well from the spring so some noise there is being transmitted. In front drive only with no rear the growl is very little as well but not nearly as loud. So I have some issues to attend to which I think is mostly the transfer case. Possibly a bad bearing.

Last night gear mesh was checked and looked great and back lash was within spec. Preload was then checked again. While doing this the back lash was re adjusted to the tighter side of the spec limit and gear mesh was checked again. Looked perfect there again. My mesh pattern in comparison the the chart of what is acceptable looked like the best of them all. The others look all jacked up but are acceptable patterns, mine was identical to the best of them all.

After some testing and tweaking of things including removing the 2 degree shims and swapping brake drums from side to side since one was dragging and swapping them practically cured that issue. I drove home with much much less noise. The loud growl is almost gone now. Next is to call Chris Tatton about his drive line and tear down my transfer case as well as address my shackles and go from there.

The guy who did my gears is being very helpful and is investing a lot of his time to help me figure this out. His install is as perfect as can be in what I saw. After I fix a few things here we will look further into any issues if I still have any. He is being a stand up guy and like I said before I do not question his ability. He has been very helpful in finding some problems that were unseen.

 

[RWKHausSupply]

The guy who did my gears is being very helpful and is investing a lot of his time to help me figure this out. His install is as perfect as can be in what I saw. After I fix a few things here we will look further into any issues if I still have any. He is being a stand up guy and like I said before I do not question his ability. He has been very helpful in finding some problems that were unseen.

I HAVE TO AGREE HERE...

He called me to even just ask if theres any "tricks" that I do differently or anything I can think of that he might have overlooked or done oddly.

He was very inquisitive and seemed like a great guy to deal with...

 

[pityocamptes]

Perhaps your U-joint is going south... had the rear joint go south and it was making some nasty ass noise before it finally froze up and started smoking...

 

[lazyxj]

Make sure the front axle pinion angle is set to zero degrees or as close as you can get it. I found this can cause really bad vibs if off even one degree.
According to the FSM, front pinion angle is more important than caster.