superburban

over the past couple of days i have been driving my suburban and i have been having fun in it. I have gone through some fields but not deep mudd, just some dirt. i have been doing some line lock burnouts. pretty many. like 10 in the past week. only a couple were really good or even posi. for some reason on the way home from Burger King tonight when i turn to the left or back up to the left i hear a loud crack. the hole suburban jolts. it needs to be inspected by this month and i need help. why is it staying in posi and bumping real bad. oh and i took the wheel off assuming that the wheel was just not tight enough so i took it off and i pulled a little bit on the rear drum cover and the whole thing just came right off. no force required to take it off at all. and the wheel is wabling a little. i can only think of something in the rear maybe. i dont know, please help me.

70mopar

superburban;
question, what exactly do u mean- "i pulled a little bit on the rear drum cover and the whole thing just came right off."? did just the drum come off? (were the brakes free from the backing plate-shoe retainer springs broken)? did the axle come out with the drum? it sounds like you've got some internal diff. problems (broken spider gear?)

superburban

the cover came off, just the cover, like you would usally have to beat with a mallet to get to the back brakes to change the shoes. the spider gears is what i hink it might be too im not sure. would that make the wheel wable? how would you go about fixing the spider gears?

70mopar

i know i should've ask'd this first but was the noise coming from the front or rear diff?

superburban

it is coming from the rear but not the dif it is at the drivers side rear wheel. i dont think it is coming from the rear dif.

70mopar

u should check the wheel bearing(s) 4 the left axle (could possibly be crushed/broken cage). u never mentioned if the axle itself came free of the housing, but u may want to check inside the diff. cover, and make sure everything inside is intact . a broken c-clip would cause your axle 2 slide out (causing big damage 2 your truck). you keep saying the noise is coming from the wheel area, but unless u're hanggin' out the side door while your friend drives, the noise could actually be inside the diff. once while driving home (Toronto,Ontario) from Lexington,KY i heard a 'clang' (sounded like the driveshaft) about an hour into my drive. stopped 2 look at everything, but couldn't see anything wrong, and continued home. the next moring, i come out my door 2 find a hugh puddle under my diff. put the truck up, and find the diff. cover is wet, wiped it clean and noticed a dent outwards with a tiny hole. when i pulled off the cover, i found EIGHT broken ring teeth, and THREE broken pinion teeth. i never heard any other noises the whole trip and was cruising around 100 MPH pretty much the whole time while on the highways. my point is, u never really know where the noise is coming from.

superburban

i had my friend drive it up the street and the noise is coming from the dif. but when i drove it down the street i noticed that the clunk noise is happening only when i am on the gas. it happens when im turning and barely if at all when im going strait.

70mopar

well superburban, i've really only got one more thing 2 tell ya-make sure u've got some bread, 'cause it sure sounds like u're going 2 b eating metal salad (i'll lay money on a broken gear set). if u still want 2 abuse your truck and have it stay driveable, i would suggest u go find an older truck for a 12-bolt diff. 2 upgrade your (more-than-likely) current 10-bolt design. in case u didn't know, they're called a '12-bolt' as there are 12 bolts holding the diff. cover on instead of 10. these are bigger and waaaay stronger. i put a 12-bolt in my dumped full size, and it will handle the 518 hp. stuffed under the hood all day (and anyone who know's me will tell ya, i like 2 play with my toys hard!). u didn't mention what year your truck was, but the 12-bolts can easily be found in the early '80's and older trucks-just make sure all your mounting points r the same (leaf width,shock mounts,etc.). i hope u do find someone who is qutie knowledgeable in setting up gears as a poorly set up ring & pinion can howl (scream) or destroy themselves in no time at all. another bullet-proof way 2 go would be 2 contact Currie Enterprises (@ www.currieenterprises.com), these guys can build anything 2 fit anything (for a cost) but are pretty much indestuctable. good luck.

70mopar

superburban, i see that you're still online. have you looked further into the source of the noise yet? find anything?

superburban

it was deffinetly coming from the rear and the suberban went to the shop today. ill tell you what was wrong with it tomorrow.