As some of you may know, I installed a locker in my truck yesterday.

Well today I thought I would take it off road to see how much better my truck would perform.

Since my cousin is in town form Alberta I thought I would take him to the top of a local mountain so he could catch a view of the whole coast. It was breath taking. (unfortunately I didn’t have my digi cam with me)

Anyhow the trail to the top of the mountain is pretty tame.  It’s just a logging road, no technical sections.  

On the way up the mountain when things started to get bumpy on the washboards my truck started to make this bad grinding noise.  It sounded like a gear somewhere wasn’t meshing properly and was slipping out of place.

We were pretty close to the top by this point, and I didn't want to make the trip in vane, so I pushed on to the top, where the cliff is located at to catch the view.

When I got to the cliff I jacked up the rear end of the truck to make sure the locker was operating properly. As far as I could tell it was working just fine.  I also checked the oil levels in my tranny and T-Case and they were fine.

After we enjoyed the view for a few minutes I decided that I didn’t want to continue off roading for the day just incase the rear end was acting up. When I got onto the pavement the noise seized to exist except for a second or two when the grinding would start then stop very quickly.

When I made it back home I took the truck over to a friend of mine who is a mechanic and had him drive it/look at it.

He said the locker feels like its operating properly, but he wasn't 100% certain since we couldn’t get the truck to make the noise again.

In the instructions it says that the locker uses about 25% of axel backlash to operate.  When we turned the axel back and forth it was only turning about 15-20% before it stopped.  Should there be more backlash?

When I set the locker up I made sure I marked everything carefully. I preloaded the bearings with the pinion side adjuster like the instructions say to do, and when it was all said and done, the ring gear backlash was exactly the same as before I pulled it apart.  

When I was driving I couldn’t really differentiate where the sound was coming from.  It sounded like it was coming from the tranny, and I could feel the vibrations in the shifter when it started to grind.  But the tranny never had any probs before I installed the locker?

Another thing... How loud are the ratcheting couplers suppose to be?  

My Lock-rite came with new side gears.  I was told that the kit with the new side gears was a lot louder than the one that uses the stock gears.  When I slowly pull around a corner the ratchets are pretty loud.  If I’m going at a moderate speed they aren’t that loud at all.  Is this normal?  I know they are supposed to click. But how loud is the clicking noise suppose to be?    



Any help or info would be great.  

TIA  

 The side gear replacement version is a bitch! Had one in my sammy hybrid for about 15,000 miles before it started giving me grief and decided to self destruct over the course of about 2,500 miles. Come to find out that if the rear axle housing has even the slightest bend to it, it will act up and fail. I now have the other version in my lwb sammy with the kick rear end, much quieter, more forgiving, no issues out of the norm. Seems that you might have a rear housing that is bent. Even the slightest amount will effect that version.
Try putting a new housing off a stock kick that hasn't been wheeled and figure out how to truss it so that it can't bend, and put it in your truck. Then I bet you will appreciate it much more.
Hope that helps.

That very well may be the reason, by why would it cause my tranny/T-case to grind?

I'am convinced now that it wasnt the rear end grinding.  I was looking through my Haynes manual last night (finaly found the damn thing) and it said  "if you hear a noise like gears falling out of mesh then its probabaly a broken T-case mount."

I'm gonna check the mounts today, and hopefully thats all the problem is.  

If the back end was grinding and vibrating, couldn't it transfer the vibration to the rest of the driveline via the driveshafts?

HOPE YA FIGURE IT OUT ! NOTHING WORSE THAN IRRATATING NOISE & VIBES YOU CANT FIGURE OUT ....MATTY D.  

hey kreg had the same problem as your describing, not sure if it is your problem but i installed my locker last month and found out a couple of weeks later that one of the axle bearings was bad passenger side replaced it and now i have no more grinding problems and all of the noises that i should hear from the locker are present and also the ratcheting sound is louder when your going slower and when im going faster i dont even notice the ratcheting. hope that helps.    shane.

Kerg, check your front hubs, I know but this is what was wrong with mine I had a hub stick and it would not engage and my transfercase would just click and not turn the rear tires under load.

Mac

That very well may be the reason, by why would it cause my tranny/T-case to grind?

I'am convinced now that it wasnt the rear end grinding.  I was looking through my Haynes manual last night (finaly found the damn thing) and it said  "if you hear a noise like gears falling out of mesh then its probabaly a broken T-case mount."

I'm gonna check the mounts today, and hopefully thats all the problem is.  

Do you have a sammy or a kick?

A Kick.


I drove my truck all day today without a hitch.

it never made any of the grinding noises.  So I'm convinced that the bumps on the trail were a factor.

I never got a chance to climb under the truck today and check the mounts. Was busy with family and whatnot.  

I'm going to check them before I go to work tomorrow.  If indeed a mount is fatigued/broken, then hopefully I can buy another one from Biker or something.  

I went under my truck today and checked out the T-Case mounts.


How much play should there be in the bushings?  

I can wiggle my T-Case up and down about 1/2 - 1" (maybe a bit more. Never had a tape on me )each way.  Are these considered fatigued? Or is this much play normal?

I thought I had excess play 1/2-1" in the mount and bought a new mount. Installed it and it still moves 1/2-1" So I think your OK there.
Zig

Well, the noise has seized to exist.

I took my truck down a bumpy gravel road today and no grinding, what so ever, was heard.

It may have been caused by something settling into place.  Or perhaps I eliminated it when I tightened a bunch of random loose bolts yesterday.

But as far as I'm concerned, this case is closed!  

haha i liek your realisim

About locker problems I want to mention the following.I have a Detroit EZ locker in the rear axle(and 5,83:1 r&p's).When I had the 30x9,5x15 ,I had some difficulties to get used to the locker when driving in the city.Had some scuffing,sudden locking of the axles(when turning),e.t.c When I put on the 31x10,5x15 (and a relatively heavier tire) suddenly the locker works perfect.Even the "click-click" sound which was loud enough with the 30's now is much less loud.No tire scuffing,no sudden locking....it works perfectly.I guess with heavier tires and at least 31's ,the automatic lockers work better??

And another strange thing that many people that I know have (including me) with auto lockers,is that when you install the locker,after some hard off roading  it gives the impression that it gets a bit loose.You adjust it (ring and pinion backlash chacking.e.t.c) and then again after some hard off roading it gives the impression that its a bit loose.Is this normal ?