Rear Axle Issues / Vibrations above 45

Watching the actual axle itself...it appears to have excessive runout. You really need to get a dial indicator on the axle, and not the face of the brake drum.

 

dropped it back off at the dealer. i guess i should have put the lug nuts on before i did the runout test. oops. anyways, they are going to listen to it with a stethoscope. We couldn't reproduce the howling noise on the test drive because it only starts after driving for a couple hours. i'm guessing the bearing is getting hot.

the service advisor said they measured my bent wheel with a micrometer and it was straight but i went to Discount Tire and they measured it and it was clearly bent....

the manager said they could replace the wheel...I already replaced the wheel!

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You can't replace these axles without replacing the bearing. You rip the outer race on the shaft out of the bearing when pressing the backing plate off the axle shaft. Or you can buy the Dorman 926-139 and call it a day.

 

Wow that doesn't look like very much. Could you see that in the mirrors?

 

i could with the wheel mounted...barely. it's just riding rougher than normal and makes noise. like a cyclical pulsing noise at low speeds and vibration over 45 mph felt like something was dragging after driving for a few hours in the heat. like i was pulling a small trailer. i think the bearing is starting to fail. i would just replace the axle shaft and bearing but i don't have a press and i've never done it before.

I've heard replacing the rear bearings is a pain in the ass even with the right tools.

 

I've been following along out of curiosity. I'm certain it's all been checked, but what you're describing in this particular post sounds like a brake shoe or the parking brake hanging. Had that happen on another vehicle and it took a while before everyone figured it out. Had a sticking disc caliper on a Tundra that did the same thing with the same symptoms you mentioned. A forum member suggested simply putting my hand on the center of all of the wheels after driving for a bit. If one was hotter than the rest, that's the one that needs attention.

I'm sure that's not what you're dealing with since the brakes were replaced and a lot of diagnostics have been done, but just thought I'd throw that out there for someone that follows.

Best of luck and hope that you get it sorted out soon!

 

dealer says everything is normal. they still refuse to check the runout for some reason... really tired of dealing with them. Could a bent/warped brake drum cause a slight wobble? or most likely the axle shaft/flange?

 

I seriously doubt it's the brake drum. Its usually the wheel itself, the axle, or both.

 

update: took it to a local 4x4 shop and they measured runout of both axles. they are both the same at 0.005 so i guess we can rule that out. bearings feel smooth too.

Out of sheer frustration after work today i jacked up the rear end again and spun the wheels. right wheel spun fine. left wheel, drum brakes are dragging at one position. I think this is the cause of my vibration.

I also noticed the drum itself doesn't look perfectly round. it's got a few mm of runout (vertically). it's got a slight oval shape. ordered a new drum. what could cause an oval shaped drum?

i guess, after 5 visits to various shops, no one has noticed this.

 

As mentioned earlier, that was what I would have guessed at the outset. All of the symptoms sounded identical to what I've experienced a couple of times. I think you mentioned that the shoes have already been replaced? If so, be sure to replace both drums and hopefully life will be good again.

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date, much appreciated!

 

no, i have not replaced any shoes yet (30k miles). I'm going to remove the left drum tomorrow and take a look to see how worn they are and to see if there is anything obviously wrong(besides the drum itself). Going to lube whatever needs lube and clean out any dirt if there is any in there. new drum should be here sometime next week.

never removed a drum before. from what i've seen, they just slide off, right?

 

With brakes you should never replace just one drum, one caliper, one pad, one shoe, one rotor, one anything. Can't recall the miles, but those parts aren't expensive. I would just do a rear brake job including new shoes, springs, retainers, drums. Having them mis-matched will cause you headaches down the road. Just not worth it.

My $.02.

 

gotcha. well if the new drum fixes the issue and i have any issues with the brakes not braking evenly, i will replace the other drum too with same type. just going aftermarket for now since they are cheap. don't want to spend too much money for something that might not fix it.

 

If you replace one drum you WILL have issues sooner or later. It could be unsafe in an emergency situation and that's not the time to find out. Just sayin'. Easy to replace.

 

Sorry, just trying to help. Brakes are NOT something to be experimented with though. They literally can mean the difference between life and death - yours, a loved one, someone else’s loved one.

There are a lot of DIY things to play with on vehicles, but brakes are not one of them. If you don’t know what you’re doing, find someone that does.

You certainly don’t have take my word for it. Ask any professional, please. It’s not worth the risk otherwise.

I’ll check out now. Best of luck.

 

i've taken it to the shop 4 times and they missed this every time. so i'm not too impressed with the professionals at the moment.

 

Why do you think he will have issues? Yes you should always do brake work in tandem with the other side but replacing one drum to try and eliminate a vibe won't cause an issue. Even if he leaves it like that, he will be fine.

 

More than 5 decades of installing and repairing brake systems here is why I say that.

 

i took it apart and cleaned it up today. a small part of the backing plate had a slight bend in it that i straightened. can't really tell any difference yet. Will be driving 5 hours for work tonight so we will see once things get hot (gets worse after driving for a while)

 

was under the truck tonight and was looking at the leaf spring shackles. the top bolt head that connects to the hangar on the driver's side is about 1-2 mm closer to the hangar than the passenger side. could the shackle be slightly bent?

i can fit the end of my finger between the bolthead on the passenger side but can't on the driver's.