Ian's Flatfender

[Flatfender]

Finally got round to dropping my transmission tonight. Advantage of no roof and a folding windscreen - I used a chain block from the roof trusses in the garage and dropped it on the floor. plenty of clearance to pull it out the side. It's still a ton weight to struggle with on your own but "where there's a will there's a way". Hope to get a chance to pull it apart tomorrow to try and identify the cause of the chatter.
Cheers
Ian w.

[Flatfender]

Pulled the gearbox apart but still can't find any particular problem. I did replace a couple of bearings just to be on the safe side before I put it all back together and guess what - yeah - No difference. It is still noisy but only when accelererating, especially in top gear. It is starting to realy p!$$ me off. As I am in Sydney for a change on Club meeting night I will see if it will make it to Regents Park and back. Hope to see you all there.
Cheers
Ian W.

[Flatfender]

Had a chat with Pete, the Service Manager at Traction 4, Artarmon last week and he imediately said - Yeah that is the same noise we get all the time with hilux's. They are very succeptable to drive line vibration if the angles aren't exactly right. He reckoned my pinion to drive shaft angle was the problem, in spite of the fact that it was no problem for a few years. Thinking about it I remembered that my leaf springs have been sagging a bit lately so I jacked it up and put blocks under the bump stops to give it a 1" lift then tried it round the block. Straight off I found it was a lot better but still had a bit of noise and vibration. So in with blocks for 2" lift and hey presto - no noise and no vibration. I couldn't believe the difference especially after spending so much time and effort (let alone money) on replacement drive shaft, new transfer case bearings and new gearbox bearings, with no improvement at all.
So obviously I need to get my springs reset for a couple of inches of lift, but in the meantime as a temporary measure I put some packers between springs and axle to alter the angle and give the same result. It now drives beautifully.
That prompts the question - are tapered axle/spring shims available anywhere?
Cheers
Ian W.