Rear Axle: Dana 44 Bearing Noise

[Studebaker1962]

Hi Forum,

I've read the older posts on bearing noises. That said...

1962 Hawk, 289, 4spd Borg, Dana 44, 3.31 gear, not twin traction, 97,000 miles

At 5 miles into my trip today the left rear started making so much noise I turned back to home and begged to see my garage without calling for a tow. Limped in 2nd gear at low speed and I finally reach my home. I ran to get my new nifty Kline infrared IR1000 temperature measurement tool. Popped the hub caps: Measured on the threaded spindle hub (sorry if not the correct term). I picked what I thought would be the hottest location and measured the same for all. Left rear 123F, right rear 93F, front left 83F, front right 84F.

The 30 degree Delta-T right rear to left rears tells me something is different between the 2 sides. I bought the IR temp tool recently because I thought it would be handy to have, and it was.

- Checking in with the forum that my assessment that a bad outer bearing is correct
- Also to note I have .026" end play and the book is .006 (I'll fix this when doing the bearings)
- U-Joints are cool as a cucumber and no evidence of spinning bearing caps.


Thanks for help & advice,
Jim

[Skybolt]

You are going where no man has gone before. Just kidding. Not many would do it that way, with temp as an indicator for the rear axle bearings, but what ever floats your boat. You have used a diagnostic tool and found a problem. Good for you. Your toy has been justified.

Change the bearing if it's bad and set your specs to what they should be.

The thing I find most odd is I have no idea what you are really talking about. I found it hard to interpret your post. If you are referring to a previous post it is better to use a link to the said post. Also, as mentioned over the years using left and right references does not make it easier because are you facing the car from the front or rear? Is it your left or the cars left? It is more productive to refer to the drivers side LHD or passenger side LHD, or if the case maybe RHD cars. Some of us have, and do, live in countries that drive on the left side of the road which make them RHD, Right Hand Drive cars.

I'm not sure how the end play works with your case as I thought the end play adjustment was remedied on the passenger side of US, LHD cars. So, I suppose it could affect your right hand side , drivers side bearing end play causing play and thus friction.

Len.

[brian6373]

What kinda noise? Was it a GRRRRrrrRRR, Kathunk kathunk kathunk, or maybe screeeeeee katunk? Be sure to also check out the brake shoe assy. One my brake shoe hold down nails was missing and allowed the brake shoe to hit the side of the drum. Gotta good clunk out of it whenever I started to move. I first thought it was a u-joint. Just follow the shop manual on the bearing change, and you should be good. To SKYBOLT; left and right are always referenced as the driver sitting in the car. That way it does not matter whether it is left or right hand drive or what side of the road your country drives on.

[Studebaker1962]

Always facing forward: Left is left and right is right.

Maybe a premature post as I have not pulled the drum off. Will do today. The problem is probably one of 3 things: Brakes, a cracked drum or bearings.

Yes I know the end play is adjusted from the right side. I mention fixing this as it would be silly to do the left rear bearings and not do the right rear bears. When into the right rear, I plan to adjust the end play per the manual.

An infrared Temp meter is great tool with many uses and is not a toy. Even the $19.99 ones, while not very accurate provides a great relative readings of 2 different things performing the same function.

With all the discussion (no I don't know the post #'s) of flushing the block and that the back cylinders could be very hot due to the crud in the block. I shot each of my spark plugs on the "nut". (As an indication of the head temp for that cylinder. Nothing to do with the function of the spark plug. I just shot the temp on the same spot for each cylinder to provide a relative result) All 8 cylinders were only a few degrees apart. So now I feel confident that my block flush without removing the freeze plugs was good.

I would recommend to buy one. The Kline IR1000 is a mid range meter at $77

[Skybolt]

Always facing forward: Left is left and right is right.

An infrared Temp meter is great tool with many uses and is not a toy. Even the $19.99 ones, while not very accurate provides a great relative readings of 2 different things performing the same function.

Sorry, all my tools are my toys.

[JoeHall]

Before I rolled the car another foot, I'd check the gear oil level in the rear end and the tranny. If either become very low, you will hear a "singing" or whine that is difficult to discern which the noise is coming from. The singing does not begin though till around 30 mph, and usually gets worse as speed is increased. Sometimes it will disappear above a certain speed. If it is not too late, simply topping up the gear oils will usually cure it. If only a little damage has been done, it may permanently sing but quieter with the oil topped up. In that case you can learn to live with it or swap it out.

OTOH, unless totally frozen in place, wheel bearings, front or rear do not sing, but sound more like "whump-whump-whump", and you may feel it in the brake pedal, a little. If you have not had the rear hubs off yet, it is time to do so anyway, and inspect/grease the bearings, set up end play, and R&R brake components.

As mentioned, for the noise you describe, I'd start with both gear oil levels.

[Studebaker1962]

The problem has been found and it is not what I expected. The left rear rim and inner hub cap are completely shot. No tapper flange for the lug nut to engage and tighten to the drum, just big round holes. Evidence of the wheel to drum motion and inner hub cap to wheel motion. The drum studs are "sawed" 1/3 of the way through from the wheel motion. The right rear is also showing signs of the same problem, some stud are abraided, but no current motion on that side

Having just got the car and now with 10 miles on the odometer to my credit in 5 months, I took a closer look at all of the wheels and tires. The tires were made in 1995 and are all dry rotted. (So much for the paid inspection when I bought the car sight un-seen)

So, bad rims, bad inner hub caps, rotten tires, ruined drum studs and also the inner hub caps are missing a few false spokes and/or the welds are broken on many others. I could spend the same dollars to go back stock or go the classy street rod look with A/R rims.

Gonna make a new post about the American Racing Torque Thrust Rims. I have read many older posts. Off set, back space and tire size and many differing opinions.

[mapman]

Nice to hear that you found the problem. If the wheels were from another car(ford I believe), the lug hole are larger than stock wheels. The bolt pattern is the same but the holes are larger. If this is the case you need larger lug nuts that require a 13/16 socket to remove. The smaller lug nuts appear tight but can be screwed in till they hit the drum without actually cinching the wheel tight. This allows the wheel to move until the symptoms you describe occur and finally the wheel comes off completely. Nice catch!
Rob

[Warren Webb]

Jim, using that temperature tool like that was a wise way of doing things. On Robinson helicopters they have a temperature sensitive tape on critical bearings that will discolor if they get too hot. So when a preflight is done those tapes are important to check. The last thing you'd need is to have one seize up & not be able to auto-rotate to safety!

[Ed Gray]

I have the Torque Thrust D wheels and they work fine on my 1980 Avanti II. I had Coker Tire install Radial T/A tires on them and ship them to me. I went with a 70 profile instead of 75, as it seemed like the available 75 tires are mostly for SUVs.