I see a lot of conversation on the forum about gear noise so I thought I might post a blog that will hopefully answer a few question that are often asked. I hope some folks find this useful.

Gear Noise - Should I Worry?
Dale DeRoche
Gear noise played a significant role in my being gainfully employed for close to fifteen years. During that time I designed and managed the development of hypoid, spiral bevel, and helical gears for a division of Dana Corporation where one of my biggest challenges was finding the correct balance between quiet running and long life. Finding this balance was the final step in the development process, one might say putting the tune on the final product. This tuning process mostly focuses on where you place the contact pattern and how long you make it. The initial contact pattern is pretty much determined when the gear-set is actually cut but it is refined during the lapping and matching process which actually turns the individual parts into a matched gear-set. The longer and broader the initial pattern is the better the odds are it will be a quiet set; however making the initial pattern too long will cause the loaded pattern to run off the heel or toe; to broad will result in running off of the top or cause root to tip interference. Neither one of these conditions are desirable for long life.

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