Rear end clicking

[07TrailyLS]

Hey guys. I'll get right to it. I'm not asking for any help on this subject but rather trying to help others once I figure out what the hell is going on with my rear axle.
For the last year upon acceleration from a complete stop, I get 3 very loud pops that for sure come from the rear end. I have brand new u joints as of 6 months ago so that ruled those out. Other things to note, I haven't tried greasing my yoke yet, nor have I replaced my transmission mount which does seem to be worn from the noise I get switching from park to reverse. The clicks/pop only happen on forward Or reverse acceleration. The same every time. 3 clicks then normal. Drivability is fine while this happens BTW. I'm hoping once I open up my diff. For the first time this weekend I don't see anything too scary lol. I'll jack the truck up this weekend and check for in and out play of the rear end. To note I have the open diff with 3.42 gearing and No g80. Either way, the diff is getting opened no matter what to replace the fluid as I'm at 107k on stock fluid. I'll buy some new seals as well as a "while your down there" type of thing. More on this damn popping this weekend. If you guys do have any info on this your more than welcome to chime in. Hoping to fix this asap

 

[Mooseman]

Very strange since you have an open diff. I'd pull the axles and check the bearings and axle surfaces. Then give the input pinion a few spins in both directions. Check suspension and brakes for anything out of the ordinary. Greasing the output shaft splines out of the tranny is a good idea.

 

[07TrailyLS]

Thanks for the input @HARDTRAILZ. Now that I'm thinking about this I remember when. Replaced both my rear trailing arms I guess that's what you call them. Rock auto has them listed as trailing arms and lower control arms. It's the large tubes running just on the inside of the rear wheels if that helps lol. Anyway , when I replaced them I distinctly remember the passenger side going right into place. The driver side was a freaking pain for some reason. I literally had to put The back bolt in and hammer the front bolt through the hole with a shit ton of force. Obviously I knew it shouldn't have been hard like that but after an hour and a half of messing with it i said f it its in. I wonder if the arm is faulty and failing causing this clicking. I could possibly get a video tonight just so you all know what the sound is before I fix it this weekend

 

[Tiggerr]

Thanks for the input @HARDTRAILZ. Now that I'm thinking about this I remember when. Replaced both my rear trailing arms I guess that's what you call them. Rock auto has them listed as trailing arms and lower control arms. It's the large tubes running just on the inside of the rear wheels if that helps lol. Anyway , when I replaced them I distinctly remember the passenger side going right into place. The driver side was a freaking pain for some reason. I literally had to put The back bolt in and hammer the front bolt through the hole with a shit ton of force. Obviously I knew it shouldn't have been hard like that but after an hour and a half of messing with it i said f it its in. I wonder if the arm is faulty and failing causing this clicking. I could possibly get a video tonight just so you all know what the sound is before I fix it this weekend

If you didn't change your panhard bar after dropping it that could be the source of the tension on your trailing/control arms...axle will be pushed to one side

 

[07TrailyLS]

Yeah @Tiggerr after I dropped it I was Browsing the SS store and noticed all adjustable rear end parts and was like f&$@.... But after spending nearly a thousand dollars on modded upper control arms and lowering springs, shocks, and struts I couldn't see forking out another 250(been a while some I looked at the price) for a new pan hard bar. Maybe after I go through the rear end and axles this weekend abd hopefully find nothing wrong, then i will chock the clicking up to this and just buy a spohn

 

[Tiggerr]

I think the panhard bar by itself is only $140ish

 

[07TrailyLS]

Alright boys. Ripped the cover off this morning. Although I didn't rip my axles out I did a good visual checking the teeth on the carrier, inspecting the lock pin and the gears inside the carrier you can see by looking into it. Everything seemed to check out. I'm going to pull the driveshaft, replace the transmission mount, (it's obviously bad with how much my trans moves and single clicks between P-R and grease the spline connection up front. Cheap things to try and are needed as standard maintenance anyways.

 

[07TrailyLS]

Alright guys. I did some digging this morning before my fireworks festivities tonight. I jacked the whole rear up and spun the tires pulled on the tires, pushed on the tires. Push/pull there was very little slop. Less than 1/8th inch on both rear wheels. The bearings on both sides weren't making any noise so I moved on. I checked the lower control arms. Both were tight. I do have TONS of slop left to right at the Rear sway bar bushings. I can move the whole bar a whole inch either direction that's not going to make a clicking noise though.... moved up to the transmission mount with a prybar. Although it looks bad it didn't budge up or down. Then I grabbed the driveshaft at the tail shaft input. I could move it up and down and in and out. I actually have a short video I made for you guys. I doubt this is normal function of this thing. But if yours does this, please let me know. If there's a problem with the tail shaft it looks like it just unbolts ten or so inches in front of the trans crossmember and can be removed and replaced. Anyway, here ya go and happy 4th

 

[Tiggerr]

Alright guys. I did some digging this morning before my fireworks festivities tonight. I jacked the whole rear up and spun the tires pulled on the tires, pushed on the tires. Push/pull there was very little slop. Less than 1/8th inch on both rear wheels. The bearings on both sides weren't making any noise so I moved on. I checked the lower control arms. Both were tight. I do have TONS of slop left to right at the Rear sway bar bushings. I can move the whole bar a whole inch either direction that's not going to make a clicking noise though.... moved up to the transmission mount with a prybar. Although it looks bad it didn't budge up or down. Then I grabbed the driveshaft at the tail shaft input. I could move it up and down and in and out. I actually have a short video I made for you guys. I doubt this is normal function of this thing. But if yours does this, please let me know. If there's a problem with the tail shaft it looks like it just unbolts ten or so inches in front of the trans crossmember and can be removed and replaced. Anyway, here ya go and happy 4th

Hard to tell in video... it that the u-joint clicking like that?
Or is it the yoke going into the tail...

I'd think there'd have to be a bearing inside the trans for the tail shaft...
Don't know that I've ever taken a tailshaft housing off to know...

Housing should be pretty straight foreword to remove though.. just a gasket and 4 bolts iirc...

 

[07TrailyLS]

U joints are new. Hard to tell by the rust. But less than 5 months old. It's definitely the yoke going into the tailshaft moving like that also

 

[Tiggerr]

Guess I'd drop the shaft, double check u-joints for slop, then pull the shaft housing and see what you can see....check splines on yoke too..maybe it's worn? Be a first for me but who knows...

If you can't find anything I've been told there's a good 4wd shop here somewhere...over in Holland I think, supposedly they even make driveshafts and such for extreme lifts... no idea what it's called though...if all else fails maybe they'd have a clue...

 

[Mooseman]

Rotational slop may be from the parking pawl or the splines. The usual remedy for slop in the splines is to put grease in there. Acts like a shock absorber. For the up and down movement, that would be tailshaft bushing wear. Either or both may be the source of the noise.

 

[07TrailyLS]

Thanks guys! Moose, can I just replace the bushing in the tail? I've never messed with one before but there's a first for everything

 

[Mooseman]

Should be able to. Just a press out and press in affair. You'll need to replace the seal too.