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My TrueTrac is noisy

BeaverMeat

Active member
Joined
Aug 8, 2020
Location
Vancouver Island
Only about 400 miles on it so far. It would really grind and pop for the first few miles. Which I read is normal for the first while. I did some figure-eights in a parking lot which made it much quieter and smoother. It?s fine around town but, once I get off the highway it get super clunky and noisy again. After some more figure-eights it goes silent.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

The gear lash is set perfectly. I?m using a 3.31 gear set. And I?m using ACDelco GL-5 80W90 (10-4051) it was the only oldschool gear oil I could find locally. Everything else was synthetic or had that LSD additive.
 
When does it make noise? Steady turns? Straight? Coast/accel?

At first it was just noisy during tight turns. Been silent up until I took it for a short highway burn and it was noisy the whole way back home.

EDIT: just thought about it… perhaps one tire is a lower PSI than the other causing it to “bind” at high speeds.
 
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The grind and pop would worry me.
I’ve had problems with viscous couplings in particular with different sized tires, so i suppose that is a possibility.
 
I've had some clunking and such with certain oils. Finally landed on Valvoline, only one I could find locally, and it seems to do really well in all 4 TT's I have (2 in the Dodge).

Did you do the install or a shop?
If you did it, how much preload did you put on the bearings?
Gear pattern good?

They should be silent.
 
I've had some clunking and such with certain oils. Finally landed on Valvoline, only one I could find locally, and it seems to do really well in all 4 TT's I have (2 in the Dodge).

Did you do the install or a shop?
If you did it, how much preload did you put on the bearings?
Gear pattern good?

They should be silent.

Tires are good.

I did the install myself and took my time, measured, checked, measured again, and double checked.

The lash is right in the middle of spec. Gear pattern looked good. Pre-load was set for new bearings? I?m at the low end of that spec. I didn?t want to go too tight. The guy who swapped the axle into my car even complimented me on how perfect my lash and pre-load were.

So? it could be my oil, the diff is faulty, or? I got to thinking. I didn?t use a axle spreader? when the axle heats up it expands and it gets all sloppy.
 
Was it easy to slide in the carrier with caps? It should require a LOT of effort. I use a dead-blow plastic hammer. Or a special piece of oak, curved on the end, and a big sledge.
 
I had to use shims on the bearings to get the lash correct. It was tight but I didn’t have to force it.

Dang. I goofed. Guess I’ll get a shim kit and open it up and pray I didn’t mess it up.
 
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check your backlash again, and while the dial indicator is on it, tap the ring gear left, then right with a dead blow. watch for needle deflection.
I check preload after installing by feeling the resistance while checking backlash. it should not feel free. There should be some drag.
Also double-check the drive and coast faces with indicator. Make sure you don't have more than one problem.
 
It’s going to a shop early next week. Took about 8 phone calls to find a place that would look at it… they all hear “Volvo” and say “not interested”. I got into an argument with one guy… I asked him if he’s familiar with Jeep Dana axles “oh, yeah sure! Done lots of them”. I have a Volvo with a Dana 30 diff… “yeah, not interested in that”.
 
Ya know, I know that story all too well. Several shops around here, same thing. Even one of the large diff shops on the west coast, nope, no dice. Kinda sucks to be honest.
 
Ya know, I know that story all too well. Several shops around here, same thing. Even one of the large diff shops on the west coast, nope, no dice. Kinda sucks to be honest.

Rear End Specialties in San Jose. Kid bought his dad out a couple years back, fired the guy that screwed us over the first time. Have been 100% since.

Not super cheap ($300 for setup, bearings & shims), but if you show up with the hard parts they seem to know what to do with it.
 
mine was too noisy to begin with. Changed to ls oil and the sound disappeared. Have been running with ls oil now for 12 years and no problem
 
It?s going to a shop early next week. Took about 8 phone calls to find a place that would look at it? they all hear ?Volvo? and say ?not interested?. I got into an argument with one guy? I asked him if he?s familiar with Jeep Dana axles ?oh, yeah sure! Done lots of them?. I have a Volvo with a Dana 30 diff? ?yeah, not interested in that?.

It's so annoying.
 
Ya know, I know that story all too well. Several shops around here, same thing. Even one of the large diff shops on the west coast, nope, no dice. Kinda sucks to be honest.

It's so annoying.

I think I found my go-to guy… he has a 1991 Rover Mini in the shop he working on for an other customer. That says allot to me about a mechanic’s capability.

He said I did an “O.K.” Job with the diff install and ring and pinion swap. Except I put shims on both sides of the carrier bearings, which is a no-no. Doh! Everything else was excellent apart from the shims and my back-lash was too tight… I had it at 0.005 instead of 0.006. which probably saved the gears from any premature wear or damage when the axle heated-up and got all sloppy. So not too bad for my first time and using minimal tools.

He also gave some pointers for next time. He said it’s a good idea to ream-out the old bearings so they slip on-and-off easily to find the proper lash. Good to know.
 
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You would not be the first person to put shims on the cup side of the carrier bearings.
 
You would not be the first person to put shims on the cup side of the carrier bearings.

Only on one side if you really have to I?m told. What I did was put the bearings on naked, used the cup shims to set my lash. Pulled the bearings off, used the dimensions on the carrier shims? which didn?t work so I just shimmed the cups to compensate? lol. I was getting impatient.
 
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