Rear Axle Noise

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ON THE REAR DRIVE SHAFT OR AXLE, IT GOES HERE.
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sstevecu
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
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Rear Axle Noise

Post by sstevecu »

Noisy Rear axle. My 1997 Safari van had a noisy rear axle for the last 20 thousand miles so I decided to pull the cover and take a look. It is a 3.42 ratio 7 5/8 inch diameter ring gear and 28 spline axles. I found the axle gears chunked out with big pits and some teeth worn to about two thirds of their width. The spiders were pretty good amazingly. The magnet on the cover was full of chips. I pulled the axles and the spiders, rinsed out the axle housing with solvent to get any residual metal chips out and cleaned off the magnet. I installed an aftermarket set of axle/spider gears. The grindy whiny noises disappeared and the van is back to normal. Even though I hear stories of ASV rear axle whine, I have never had a problem with any of the several Astros and now this Safari I have had, other than this one time. They all had quiet rear axles, even the '87 Astro that I ran to 350K miles and then sold to a friend, thats how good it still was! I have pulled trailers over the road with each of them as well.
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mdmead
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Re: Rear Axle Noise

Post by mdmead »

Sounds about right to me. I never saw what the inside of my axle looked like, but my '96 started making noise around 45K miles and I finally had it rebuilt at 90K. It started by just making noise going around corners, but eventually was a constant howl. The rebuild has about 65K miles and is still quiet... but when it gets back on the road, it will be dealing with V-8 power, so hard to say how that will affect.
Matt
Selah, WA
-96 GMC Safari AWD Hi-Top Conversion -->Stalled 5.3L swap & 5" lift
-74 Ford Bronco -->Far from perfect but mine!
-99 V-10 Ford Super Duty Super Cab 4x4 -->Stock with 285 Cooper ATs
-00 Ford Focus Wagon -->The Red Turd
-95 Ford 24' Class C Motorhome -->My big block sleeper
-07 Can-Am Outlander XT -->My yellow 4x4 quad for work & play
-04 Ski Doo REV Summit -->Still several chassis behind!


No new projects until the current ones are done!
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1Gary
I have my van tatooed on my cheeks
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Re: Rear Axle Noise

Post by 1Gary »

mdmead wrote:Sounds about right to me. I never saw what the inside of my axle looked like, but my '96 started making noise around 45K miles and I finally had it rebuilt at 90K. It started by just making noise going around corners, but eventually was a constant howl. The rebuild has about 65K miles and is still quiet... but when it gets back on the road, it will be dealing with V-8 power, so hard to say how that will affect.
Matt the power curve your 5.3 has is in the mid to upper RPM ranges so your 10 bolt should be fine for it.In fact a gear change for the rear end or both(don't remember if you van is a AWD or not)to 3.72's would help that 5.3 a bit.
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY
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