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Ring and Pinion Noise
I recently had my R&P changed out from 3.42 to 3.08 using a new "USA Standard Gear" set.
The setup starts to make an audible whine around 1800 rpm and goes away ~2150 rpm, more pronounced under accel/load, and horrendous and loudest at ~2000 rpm. The installer states that the backlash and shimming is correct and trying different settings just changes the rpm range of the noise. He is also upset that he cannot get the setup to be quite like it should be and he has done "dozens" of the 8.5 GM setups and never had an issue until now. Now I don't know if "it's just me" , but it seems like the whine is getting louder but staying in the same rpm range. Any ideas here on why and what, if anything, can be done about this? Thanks, DanC 1978 Firebird Espirt original 10 Bolt housing "PJ" (2.43 open) Yukon Dura Grip YDGGM8.5-3-28-1 carrier USA Standard Gear ZG GM8.5-308 |
Backlash and shim recommendations are just a starting point; the set up then needs to be tuned to get the correct contact pattern.
If it is truely a defective gear set and if it doesn't respond to repeated trials then the only recourse is to replace with another ring and pinion set. K |
Good to know if it has a constant drone (as if pinion depth is not where the gears were rung-in) or a cyclic drone (like as if not seated flush with diff Carrier flange.
If itsa a constant drone then let it ride into quiet with wear. If itsa cyclic then look into a proepr seating or a better posi carrier. |
Use marking compound and check the pattern at 3 different points. If the pattern differs at any one of the points, it's likely a defective ring gear. I've seen a couple in the last few years. Since it was quiet before the gears, it's unlikely that the carrier has an issue. I've had a couple of carriers with excessive runout cause an issue with noise, I just spend the extra money on Eaton units for my vehicles these days. If you can post a picture of the pattern, it will be a lot easier to diagnose.
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Did the shop doing the work have any comments about what the pattern check looked like when they were done setting it up? Very hard to comment without seeing the results of that check. I would like to see both a drive side and coast side check results. In general, the lower the numerical gear ratio, the easier it is to get a nice pattern and quiet operation. In my experience, GM ratios steeper than 3.73:1 are a little more difficult to make really quiet as the number of teeth on the pinion gear decrease. A 3.08:1 ratio, in theory should be fairly easy to set up. Of course, it's always possible the gear set is defective.
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Make sure the pinion nut isn't backing off! This will destroy the diff. really quick. I've seen this twice.
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Did all 4 new bearings go in on the gear swap?
Some new off shore bearings are crap. I recall one case where the guy setting up the new gears got distracted and left the honed out set up pinion bearing in the rear! |
Thank you for the replies!
Here are the answers to your replies, as best I can....
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Yes all new, USA made Timkin and Koyo bearing and races were installed, including axle bearings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote:
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Thanks for answering all those questions. You mentioned the rear end was noisy with the other ring and pinion set as well. This leads me to the axle bearings. What are their condition? Axle bearings can transfer tremendous noise through the tubes at speed.
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My Moser 12 bolt is noisy as heck, and I'm on my 2nd US Gear 3.42 ring & pinion in 5k miles. I did carrier bearings at that time too.
Maybe I should look at me axle bearings? I called Moser (they did the rear initially) and they told me some gears are just noisier than others, not sure if that's true or not, but I'm going to install another set of them. I have all new carrier bearings this time too, but was considering a different brand R&P. I actually have a new True Track carrier too. What should I look for on the axle bearings? . |
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So did the OPs noisy gears that got taken out show ware, and in particular show ware that would have lead to failure?
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Bearings would be a low growl or drone or rumble.
Ring/pinion gear mesh is a high frequency pure tone (a howl or whine). K |
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I have the hybrid ends on the Moser housing, using a Ford big bearing (double row). I bought it as a complete assembly minus brakes, broke it in as instructed, and it sang from day one. Yes, used correct fluid. They use US Gear exclusively. They don't list bearing brands on their' website, but I will look at the kit they provided and check the bearings. . |
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K |
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Rotating torque the pinion pre-load was set at? Did they use a new never used pinion nut for final assembly? Did they preload the carrier bearings for final assembly? What was the final assembly backlash? Did they send you a photo of final assembly pattern? If you get vague and or no answer, then they don’t know what they’re doing. |
I’d take it to a good rear end shop.
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This is my 3.42 R&P that were removed. |
Might want to check pinion depth.
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Both of your pics of the ring gear show the coast side of the teeth. At least the wear pattern. Coast side looks OK from what I can see. If possible, a few pics of the drive side of the teeth, (convex side), might help by comparing each side of the teeth. Thanks.
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Picts show Pinion depth within range for coast-side.
Drive side could convince need to change shim thickness ( not sure if to inc/dec pinion shim=depth: probably increase shim so big-dia makes more contact) if Drive too inboard. |
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Geez the engagement looks perfect.
But do i see ring tooth wear, and satin-matte pinion teeth? Should be polished to a shine, |
Thanks for the great pictures! When I see a pattern like that on a ring gear, my assumption is the pinion depth and the backlash are awfully close to perfect. I might be missing something, but the pattern looks very good to me. Heel, toe, face, flank looks nicely centered on drive and coast side. No sharp cut off on heel or toe. Nice fan out on the contact patch using almost all of the gear tooth. Just not seeing anything. The fact that you have had noise with 2 gear sets makes me wonder if the case has runnout on the mounting flange or a bearing/race issue in the housing. Just not seeing anything in that gear contact. Did the shop happen to say what backlash they were running? Wonder if they checked it in at least 4 places around the ring gear.? I like to check 6 spots.
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Hmm, i forgot to think about backlash. Zero backlash, or pre-loaded beyond 0 lash might become hyper-tight when warmed-up. Might explain the matte-satin teeth?
Do you remember it being tight to turn, or zero backlash feel? |
Axle housing bent possibly ?
Not all that unusual, if it is bent that may cause it to be noisy due to bearing misalignment. |
Pinion nut was coming loose or bearings or pinion races weren’t fully seated.
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