Swifty Mechanic

[Injun]

....saved somebody's life today.

I have been complaining about a rattly/squeak noise coming from one of my wheels. A couple of weeks ago, I got an ABS code in my dash. They hooked it up to the computer and the fault went back to a sensor on the front, passenger side drive wheel. After checking the electrical system over, it was determined the sensor needed to be replaced. It took a couple of weeks to get the sensor in, but it's not a big deal. The sensor won't hurt anything, just keep an annoying code in the dash. Well, the sensor arrived and I had time to get it done today.

The young feller who did the work came out and asked me to accompany him into the shop, he thought I might need a wheel seal. As he was showing me what he was talking about, he wiggled the axle end and got a look on his face that said, "It's not supposed to do that." He initially thought the nut might be loose, so he got the big wrench and tightened it. The axle still had ¼" of play in it. He tore the axle end apart and pulled the bearings out.

The outside bearings were completely shot. He called the shop boss over and showed it to him. Shop boss was surprised they hadn't failed yet.

After paying no fewer than six outside shops with experienced, so-called professional diagnostic mechanics to figure out where that noise was coming from and fix it and telling me it was fine, or worse, it was my imagination, a SWIFTY mechanic found the problem...before the part failed and took the entire axle end, complete with wheel group, out. Remember that car in Connecticut last year that was hit by somebody's loose tire? That could have been my tire, if yet another mechanic shined on the problem. I am happy he took the time to look.

The differential was drained to make sure the metal shards didn't come from there and the axle end on the other side will be dismantled and inspected to be sure there isn't similar damage there.


Oh, and I got the 13-speed conversion done today, too.

 

[Hammer166]

I was trying to remember, you got that truck new, didn't you?

 

[Tim]

Newly used.

 

[Duck]

It's another example of my observations being poo-pooed by mechanics and shops.

They're probably not taking you seriously because you're a woman & they think that the only thing you know about the truck is how to put fuel in it.

 

[Tim]

They're probably not taking you seriously because you're a woman & they think that the only thing you know about the truck is how to put fuel in it.

And we all know women hear voices in there head all the time so why not odd truck noises.

 

[Injun]

I was trying to remember, you got that truck new, didn't you?

It had 60K miles on it when I got it.

@Duck, I'm afraid you might be right. I continually hope we are beyond that in this day and age. I keep trying to tell myself it's because I'm a driver...but more and more, I'm thinking it's gender based. I know more about my truck than 75% of the men I work with.

But that doesn't count for anything. That sort of attitude is going to kill somebody someday, if it hasn't already.

 

[Injun]

The 9 speed rattle will never go away, and these low RPM high torque motors are hell on the clutch damper springs.

This type of response has been pretty typical of the reception I've been greeted with when describing the rattle/grind/grating sound that I've been hearing...and was the reason I had the driveline phased within weeks of getting the truck. Tim's response is actually one of the most polite. Most of them give me the old "you need to wear underpants like a hat to cover the dick growing out of your forehead" look as they explain to me it's making a "normal" noise.

It's not. It's not supposed to make the sound I've been hearing all this time.

I got some background on this from another driver here whose ProStar has a VIN just ten digits older than mine. His is -560, mine is -570. He recently had his clutch replaced because it outright failed. So, the young fella (different guy than the one who found the pitted bearings) who did the work on the other truck removed my inspection plate (after a more experienced mechanic said he couldn't see anything wrong and the only way to find out is to pull the entire transmission, oh, by the way, there's 75% left on the clutch) and poked his finger around to where the other truck had its problem. He came away with a one-inch section of spring in his finger. My problem, it seems, is identical to the one discovered in the other truck.

Apparently, the wrong throwout (pilot) bearing fork was used when the truck was assembled. the prongs were just a little bit too short. So, rather than go get the right fork, the yay-hoo who assembled our transmissions simply forced the wrong fork into place and assumed, since it "worked" that it would be okay. The ill-fitting fork bangs against the pressure plate and, since it doesn't fit right, causes parts to fail...including breaking the spring.

I will be getting this made right as soon as the parts come in. Meanwhile, I will be running loads. While it is noisy, it still functions. This should be corrected within a couple of weeks and since these guys just did this identical job, they know which part number to order. The thing that will take the longest will be sending the fly wheel out to be resurfaced.


As for the rear axle: The bearings are fine. However, the large nuts that are supposed to hold the whole works together were just hand-tight. They were never torqued to the 300# specification at the factory.


All of this stuff could have been taken care of a couple of years ago if I could have just gotten someone in a shop to just listen to me and not poo-poo my observations.


I also asked to have the transmission oil flushed and replaced. I wanted to make sure the transmission wasn't in bad shape. The only debris was that fine, gritty stuff that is normal for a transmission with over 400K miles on it. Actually, there was less of this detritus than could usually be expected.

 

[Duck]

Tim's response is actually one of the most polite. Most of them give me the old "you need to wear underpants like a hat to cover the dick growing out of your forehead" look as they explain to me it's making a "normal" noise.

What exactly does that expression look like? I tried finding it on Google Images but all I got was some really bizarre p0rn.

 

[Injun]

What exactly does that expression look like? I tried finding it on Google Images but all I got was some really bizarre p0rn.

It looks something like this:

 

[Tim]

Injun you remember about a year or so ago when my water to oil cooler took a dump and fill the trans with water?
My clutch disc plates were fine, in fact compared to the new disc plates there was vary little wear on the discs but the damper springs were shot to hell. The 7 or 8 springs
(this is NOT a Eaton clutch) were busted, broke and a couple were all most ready to fly out. Them springs rattle a lot when the motor is lugged down in the low RPM's and only can take so much before they fail.
Now I'm not saying you haven't found the problem with the clutch fork but I suspect the damper springs is also what your hearing.
If I had the time I would used a clutch from Lipe

that uses more and heaver damper springs.

 

[Injun]

Them springs rattle a lot when the motor is lugged down in the low RPM's.....
...Now I'm not saying you haven't found the problem with the clutch fork but I suspect the damper springs is also what your hearing.

I know the rattle you're talking about. Yes, at lower RPMs, there is a bit of a rattle that I have come to expect from every truck I've driven. If I allow the RPMs to fall that low, due to inattention-hey...it happens to the best of us- it's a cue to shift down a gear.

The rattle I'm talking about is at cruising speeds, with the engine running at its optimum speed...when everything should be at its most quiet.

Since the mechanic removed that bit of spring stuck into his finger, there is very little rattle. In fact, I can't remember this truck ever being so smooth and quiet.

The wrong fork (in the other truck) was rubbing against the springs in the resting position. The springs stick out the sides of the pressure plates just a little bit. When cruising, there is supposed to be a clearance between the fork and the springs so they can turn freely. This was not the case with the wrong fork that was forced into position.

There is still a small bit of grind at highway speed, but not nearly what I've been listening to.

 

[Injun]

The wrong fork

 

[Injun]

The right fork

 

[DubbleD]

The right fork

The wrong fork

Holy Kodak moment Batgirl!!
Where'd ya get such big pictures??

 

[Injun]

Best I can do with an Android. Click on the thumbnail.

 

[Tim]

Best I can do with these hemorrhoids. Click on the buttail.

auto corrected.

 

[DubbleD]

Best I can do with an Android. Click on the thumbnail.

I did... and the pic went...This big!

auto corrected.

My younger sister swore she had a tail when born... I never argued.

 

[Injun]

Well. Maybe Duck can fix the photos.

 

[Duck]

Well. Maybe Duck can fix the photos.

Maybe...

 

[bigyellowpete]

I will admit I haven't read every post in this thread, but have noticed a few posts on unusual steer tire wear, and various reasons for this, which are all valid. One reason for odd steer tire wear that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the steer rims themselves may be wearing out. I'm not talking about a rim being bent, I'm talking about where the tire bead meets the aluminum rim. This too wears down over time/miles, and eventually will result in a tire not seating correctly and causing strange wear. I speak from experience, as I was about to replace both my steer rims on my truck when I got hurt last fall, as the driver side tire had gone goofy on my truck and after close examination we determined the worn rim to be the cause.

Just throwing this out there for something to consider, especially if your ride has more than a few miles on it.

 

[rebel]

Thanks, Tim. Such a pain in the ass with this phone sometimes.

those are both of the outer bearings and the race for the right one that were removed from Girly's front drive axle last week.

-no excess heat
-a bunch of mechanics claiming there's nothing wrong
-only symptom was the rhythmic rattling/scratching sound and a series of ruined steer tires...tire guy is thinking this may have been the cause.

I don't know if I'd use the word "mechanic" in their case.
Those bearings might have still turned, but the pitting is all I needed to see....
It wouldn't necessarily have to be a heat treatment failure, the wrong torque could cause grit, etc. to get in, or lose lubrication.
Regardless of the final cause, the results of a bearing failure give the symptoms you described.
I can usually hear one going long before it blows up.