here's a cracked theroy: a drum is dragging slightly.-just enough to produce that resonance that would otherwise be eliminated my that spring that wraps around the drum.

[sniff]

Front u-joint has a bit of play in it, gonna get both replaced and re-evaluate. Hopefully its that simple, then again thats what I said when I found bad front wheel bearings.

The rear end oil was checked a few months ago - it had its typical foul odor but the level was ok. Rear end yoke didn't have an play in it.

This was WAY too loud to be a drum. I guess you can't appreciate how loud it is until you actually hear it. If a police car with sirens on was near me with my windows down, I wouldn't hear it over the car noise.

Grr.... new u-joints and rebalanced shaft didn't do it.

The pinion deffinately is angled down. Maybe too far down? I'm not sure what is proper or how to measure, nothing evident in the FSM. Is there a prefferd tool/method of doing it? Especially one that will accomodate for a street that may not be level.

FSM actually should contain the procedure for checking the driveshaft angularity. What year and model is this, again?

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

1971 Plymouth Duster

I browsed through it quickly and didn't find anything.... maybe in the smaller body manual?

New development: Lifted the rear and ran it - the tires weren't turning straight - if you look directly at the treads from the rear of the car you can see the tire "wave". Pull axle, did a little @#$%^&%$@#$% - the "green" style axle bearings are shot. The grease leaked out which probably is what lead to their demise. I can grab the outer part and wobble it by hand. Now I gotta get a shop to press on new ones (got estimates for $150-200 including bearings) or get new axles all together. Methinks I'm gonna go standard timken instead of green style again.

Nice!

I'm glad you got it figured out. Thanks for posting the results. Let us know how the repair goes.

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Hopefully this is indeed it..... seems most promising cause so far.

What I'm wondering - The axle splines go into the differential a what, good 2+ inches? Why isn't that good enough to hold the axle steady with it up in the air? Or is the weight of the axle + slop between the splines enough to let it wobble?

*sigh* negative, new bearings, same shiz.

When the rear end is in the air, and wheels turning, are they supposed to turn 100% true or is it normal for there to be a bit of wobble? Before replacing the left one was wobbling a bunch, the right a little. Now they are both a little.

Next is the carrier I suppose.

By the way - we can eliminate the axles - I got a good used set of axles with new bearings pressed on.

How does it look without the wheels/tires on?

Ok, heres where we are at with this. The rear end has now been completely gone through, new axle bearings, rebuilt carrier. The wheels still have the slightest wobble to them, haven't ran them with the car off. Even if they are supposed to turn 100% true I took a different path though because none of this seemed to make a difference in the noise.

On Dan's suggestion I started looking at angles. I added a 3deg shim (to point the pinion down) and it got better, then a 2deg shim for total of 5 and noise is almost gone but still there. I replaced the trans mount, with shims still there, and noise came back stronger. This is now starting to point suspicion towards the trans, if the new mount holds the trans more securely and the noise went up maybe something inside the trans is shaking....

The driveshaft is now the proper 49 1/4" length as per fsm. The yoke in the trans has the slightest bit of play in it, maybe a 1/16". From what I've read here a little bit of play here is normal. Any thoughts? Also, is the trans output shaft supposed to have any play in it? I haven't checked mine yet but that is going to be the next step.

I'll probably end up taking the shims back out. Measurement shows me I'm past the 7deg pinion down angle its supposed to be at anyway - having 6+deg of shims just doesn't seem right when going from one stock duster rear to another unless theres something else majorly buggered up.