noisy rearend gears - or is it??? 3.55 8-3/4"

It takes a really big pair of snap ring pliers to release a bearing maybe, or something back there and I still have those, Snap On, a really giant snap ring pliers made specifically for this job.
Sorry about your friend's tailshaft. Hope he paid for your repair services with good liquor or at least a cold bottle of something.

Are you still talking about pressing bearings on and off axles here?
 
...

I still get queasy thinking about experiences like that, and how dirty it made me feel to be a part of it. I sold them the pumpkin for $50, and they charged the customer $600 with their song and dance.

Eventually, a Chevy got me fired.... my next job was for Ryder Truck, 10 times the job, servicing Peterbilts and Kenworths, which is what I wanted to do...
I would've felt dirty about that $600 shenanigan also. In my experience, things like that are a sign that something is coming your way, and to start getting ready mentally. Might be one sign, might be a handful spread over time. Either way, nothing will happen until the next lillypad is ready, and when you look backward, it'll all make sense. 'One door closes and the next one opens' and whatnot.

Years ago the best job I ever had turned south for a variety of reasons. I was so beat-down mentally that good spirits for a jobhunt were impossible. When I got laid off, I felt like I'd just gotten a governor's pardon out of jail - even though my future was unknown. Within a week I had discovered a job opening for a company that I knew, but didn't realize they had a facility in my town. I googled and discovered it was 3 miles from my house (prior job was almost 30) so I drove over to check it out. As I entered the parking lot, I saw a guy in a Suburban sitting in a parking spot facing the parking lot - he was eyeballing me. I immediately sensed it was a security guy, and that he was logging my arrival and license plate. But there was nothing I could do about that, and I'd done nothign wrong, so I let it go. Within a few days I got a phone interview, an in-person that Thurs and the next day got a job offer - this became the new best-paying job I ever had (and the prior one was known city-wide as one of 'the' places to work).

After a few months numerous folks started mentioning that I was so much better than the last guy - there was something there but nobody would say what. Finally asked what the real story was, and was told the prior guy was unstable and didn't play well with others (or the customers), so they fired him. The Suburban was a security guy, sitting there for about a month, in case he came back armed.

So if I had been jobhunting, I wouldn't have seen that job listing until that point, and would've gotten even more depressed by being not being able to find a job. Because the next place was still being prepared. I've had a handful of job-related stories happen like that.

... it's the Blazer guy, Ed S., we recognized each other instantly, and he says "I know they fired you over that, and that it wasn't your fault",...
That's awesome you got that type of closure. Reading between the lines, I'd bet the shop lost untold business over that, as Ed surely explained to friends/family/neighbors when they asked why they hadn't seen the Blazer in awhile.

I guess the Charger was a column shift car because he put in a B&M shifter and drilled a through the top of the tailshaft, lol, it was a gusher ;]
You buddy didn't notice when he was drilling, drilling, drilling then all of a sudden popped thru - he kept drilling? :wideyed:
 
For those interested:
I am reassembling everything soon (hopefully) and going to do a test drive. I got the debris out and new grease in that 1 bearing, so it should be OK for a test drive to see if the noise is still there (or changed) due to the gearset change. I figure the bearing didn't self-destruct last time I drove it, so I don't expect <10 more miles is much risk. I need to get the car mobile to get things cleaned out, dusted off, and rearranged for wintertime. Car #3 is turned sideways across the back of the garage and needs swapped with car #2 that currently sits facing the overhead door. I want to drive #3 again next year and #2 is so far from roadworthy (and got very little progress over the summer). Time to switch which one sits on the back burner.

We'll see how the noise is, and 2 new bearings will be a job for next spring.
 
News, both good and bad.

Everything is back together and the noise is still there, although it seems somewhat quieter (but might be imagination).
Based on the debris that came out of the driverside bearing, it needs replaced (I will have both of them done).
Will contemplate over the winter whether to buy a press and do myself or farm it out. (I am at the point that I don't have footprint for even a cheap 20-ton hyd press).

This is a bittersweet result as I wanted the car to be fixed.
So I still have the ongoing problem, but perhaps those 3.55 gears are still good (which are worth far more than the cost of 2 axle bearings).
Perhaps next spring I can swap the 3.55 into my 300L for a noise comparison - the smogger 400 in it needs a little help vs the 3.23 in it.

So for now - case closed.
 
News, both good and bad.

Everything is back together and the noise is still there, although it seems somewhat quieter (but might be imagination).
Based on the debris that came out of the driverside bearing, it needs replaced (I will have both of them done).
Will contemplate over the winter whether to buy a press and do myself or farm it out. (I am at the point that I don't have footprint for even a cheap 20-ton hyd press).

This is a bittersweet result as I wanted the car to be fixed.
So I still have the ongoing problem, but perhaps those 3.55 gears are still good (which are worth far more than the cost of 2 axle bearings).
Perhaps next spring I can swap the 3.55 into my 300L for a noise comparison - the smogger 400 in it needs a little help vs the 3.23 in it.

So for now - case closed.

Wait a minute.
. You have a 300-L?
 
Wait a minute.
. You have a 300-L?
Out of the finality of my woeful situation with my favorite car that is your sole takeaway? :poke::lol:

But yes, in spite of my screen name I've owned a few Chryslers over the years, and the L is the only Chrysler to survive my 2008 major purge.

1665686926152.png

Old pic, but its appearance hasn't changed much.
I haven't improved it cosmetically, but at least have kept it sheltered.
Bought it sometime in 2006 as an impulse buy, a buddy spotted it on ebay and told me to buy it, so I did.


1665688868775.jpeg
 
The 727 is harder to turn in reverse, not the axle. Remove drive shaft and try the gears. Now rotate the driveshaft and see that is doesn’t go in reverse very easily like forward.

I didn’t read all of this thread.
 
cleaning and repacking a bad bearing will not make a noise go away...even temporarily
 
Update:
Put new bearings on both axles at a buddy's house - he had a press, and he had done it before on some Ford axles.
I was a bit nervous as I hadn't done it before, but it went fairly OK.
As the bearing flush I did earlier-on washed out some debris, I expected a finding. I was not disappointed.

We nicked one of the axles with the grinder during race-removal, so I dressed it down to reduce any stress risers. It's on the journal for the outer seal, and the factory had machined numerous sharp ridges (stress risers) in the same area, so I figure it's OK. All the vehicle weight is carried at the next smaller journal where the bearing resides. The picture makes it look larger than it is.

Packed some grease on the trapped-side of the bearings, pressed them on, and I greased them fully at home after all the press-work was done.

With all of that said, the noise is now 95% gone. :steering:
I can still hear some noises, but it's because I'm a car guy, listening for noises. They are not noteworthy.

What I do have, now, is a terrible dash rattle that I did NOT have before. :BangHead:



1687300348589.png


1687300449436.png
 
Update:
Put new bearings on both axles at a buddy's house - he had a press, and he had done it before on some Ford axles.
I was a bit nervous as I hadn't done it before, but it went fairly OK.
As the bearing flush I did earlier-on washed out some debris, I expected a finding. I was not disappointed.

We nicked one of the axles with the grinder during race-removal, so I dressed it down to reduce any stress risers. It's on the journal for the outer seal, and the factory had machined numerous sharp ridges (stress risers) in the same area, so I figure it's OK. All the vehicle weight is carried at the next smaller journal where the bearing resides. The picture makes it look larger than it is.

Packed some grease on the trapped-side of the bearings, pressed them on, and I greased them fully at home after all the press-work was done.

With all of that said, the noise is now 95% gone. :steering:
I can still hear some noises, but it's because I'm a car guy, listening for noises. They are not noteworthy.

What I do have, now, is a terrible dash rattle that I did NOT have before. :BangHead:



View attachment 602716

View attachment 602717

Aarrgghh!
 
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