The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rear-end Whine

My 53 3100 Rear-End whines like a baby with out a noon nap and an empty bottle. If I throttle it to keep some torque on it then I can keep it to a minimum moan. When I let off the gas and coast then it is so loud people look from the curbs. I took the rear cover off and cleaned out all the 50 year old heavy weight oil/grease and some light metal pieces. I called a shop and will have a 3:55/1 installed soon. It is a 4:11/1 with a granny 4 speed.

My question is if I loosen the right side bearing and tighten the left side to move the ring closer to the pinion will I decrease the noise? When I move the rear end inside with the cover off by hand it will move about 2 to 3 inches in the ring and pinion gear before any wheel movement. I think that is called the lash? I am looking for a temporary fix as I am going to drain the rear end oil one more time to try to capture anymore metal pieces so I didn’t do any damage to the tubes or the bearing races so I can drive it a few more times before I have the rear end converted.

BTW I went to a truck shop that handles Tractor Truck parts and replaced my stock with a drain plug that is magnetized so the metal should all be there if I missed any.

Thanks John

If you have any side play in the bearings in the carrier you can adjust them like you say. Adjust them to get about .010 backlash in the gears. Tighten the adjusters till they won't go any more & back off to line up the locks. I'm sure you know it needs a complete rebuild but this may quiet it down a little till you get it dune.

OK, great. I wasn't sure if it would hurt it to tighten it up a little. Yes I am aware it will need a complete rebuild. I am having a 3:55/1 put in it. I just want to drive it to the body shop and back and get the wood bed in and stuff like that before I bring it to get the rear end done. Thank you.

John

If you're going to rebuild it anyway, put some saw dust or banana peelings in it. That will quieten it down for a while until you rebuild it.

I have heard of that in the "old" days, but didn't know if it actually worked. I have heard stories that when older trucks and cars were sold with a rearend problem they would pack them with sawdust to quite them down and pass them off as a good car or truck... now I know it must have been true.

If you Google my name, you will probably figure out how I learned about it. The car dealer and my father were brothers and started out as partners in the 30's. Don't let my cousin know I'm exposing his old trade secrets.

If it's that sloppy, there's not much you can do to make it worse. Just don't expect miracles when you adjust it- - - - -you'll be disturbing the established wear pattern the gears have set up, and that usually makes them more noisy! The change in noise from pull to coast usually indicates the pinion bearings are worn out, so count on replacing all the bearings (including axle bearings) when you do the ring & pinion change.
Jerry

Thanks Jerry,

Yes I asked him to order all the bearings, do a ratio swap, and replace all the bearings.

Thanks John

Another favorite "quiet-it-down" trick was to pack a rear end,(or an oil pan) with the litle round cork gaskets from soft drink or beer bottle caps- - - - -hundreds of them! 3 cans of STP, some 90 weight gear oil, and trade that sucker in!
Jerry

The little round gaskets from the beer bottle and soft drink bottles... wow, they are days we will never get back. I remember the gas station I worked at as a kid had a long open the top coca cola machine and you would put in your 15 cents and I’m trying to remember but you took your product down the line that was to thin to lift a bottle out of so you couldn't steal it, but went through the maze of metal to the front of the machine and then lifted it out and it went through the mechanical vender unit. Then you would open your bottle on the side of the machine and there had to be hundreds or thousands in the corner of that gas station for the 5 or 6 years I worked there, I can’t remember anyone ever cleaning them up... Good Times.

I've been down and out recovering from my back surgery, but I finally had a good day so I got on the creeper and tightened the slop in the rear end. It did quiet it down some when I took her for a ride, but as I said before I need to have it completely rebuilt. Thanks for your help.

John