:confused: They lived right in town. At least they did in '98. Am I missing something?

 

My 79 started making a scraping sound then it turned into this terrible popping sound. It was the ujoints on the half shafts. I replaced them and no more problems. I went ahead and did both sides. I got the u-joints from napa. I dont think I live to far from you? How far are you from Madison/Huntsville Al?

 

I had some horrible sounds that I thought was u-joints or bearings. I changed those and still had an issue. It turned out to be the rear diff fluid. It only made thye noise after the car got hot from driving.....Good luck

 

One correction... On a posi unit, the other side should turn the same direction. On a "normal" rearend, the other side will turn the opposite direction. Yours should go the same direction. If everything was as bad as you describe and there are no signs of the u-joints being bad (seriously look for a red powdery substance right around the joints), then I'd say the next bet is to check out the differential. Could be something as simple as low fluid. Is the differential wet with a thick oily substance? When did the bumping and popping start/happen, on a straight away, or while cornering?

EDIT: Oh yeah, if you can hear the sound while turning the wheels by hand, see if you can find someone else who will listen for the sound to see where it's coming from. That may or may not help you locate it, but it couldn't hurt. A long screwdriver pressed against different objects (like the differential case) and held against your ear works as a good noise location device...

EDIT2: Sorry, also, you asked about driving it to the garage... I wouldn't, especially if you don't know what the problem is first. You could cause more damage to the car or yourself. To answer another question, the hubs will not turn really easily in my experience. This is "normal" as you have those u-joints in there that take a lot more force to turn when not striaght.

[Modified by dath, 11:01 AM 9/5/2003]


[Modified by dath, 11:05 AM 9/5/2003]

 

Everyone's claiming to be kin to "Dolly Parton"....Trying to cash in on her fame....LOL

 

I'm going to try to make time after work tomorrow (I only work 1/2 a day) to look more closely and maybe get a pic or 2. It's already on jack stands so it shouldn't be too difficult. I'll look for the red powder around the u-joints too and get back to you ASAP.
Tee :auto:

 

Here is a strange one that might apply to your problem. A friend of mine had a 79 and it appears that some of the stub axles (part that comes out of the diff) may not have been heat treated properly. The inner most part of the shaft worn inside the diff which allowed the driver shaft to more much closer to the diff housing than expected.

The 79 still used the larger c- straps to hold the u-joints in. This allowed the innner most u-joint straps threaded end to actually start cutting into the housing like a lathe. You could see a groove being cut around wear the seal mates with the diff housing.

This may not be the cause of your problem, but may be worth a look. Also check the u-joint from the trans to the diff. These are hard to see.

Dave

 

I had a situation on my 81 last year where I was driving down the beltway and heard a loud bang. The next day I could barely get out of the driveway. I could go forward but not back. It turned out to be a bolt in the hub area, I think it was from the brake, had fallen out, that was the loud bang I heard the day before. It allowed the brake assembly to rotate and jam inside the rim. You couldn't really see it until it was up on a lift. Of the two bolts this one falling out allowed forward movement, had the other one come out , the first time I hit the brakes while going down the highway would have locked up the right rear wheel at 60mph :eek:
Hope this was helpful, be careful & good luck.
And welcome aboard :cheers: