Solved: Rear axle "Womp, womp"...

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NOV87

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Hello. On my 2014 HEMI, had Truetrac rear diff installed by a shop about 20k miles ago. Recently, while rotating tires noticed a little side to side play in both wheels (9 o'clock and 3 o'clock). More pronounced in passenger side. I hear metal tap when moving the wheel side to side, feels like the geara have enough room for that play. No more No less. Just that captured range...At low speed I can hear a little whoop, whoop kind of noise. Other than that, no issues. No leaks, oil level is correct. No vibration. I am going to open the diff tomorrow and take a look inside. Already purchased new wheel bearings and seals, just in case. What are the odds that pinion got loose or axle bearings are going bad? At the time of replacement (20k ago), all bearings and seals were swapped with new ones. Any other ideas would be appreciated. I heard that top to bottom slop indicates bad wheel bearings, side to side - axle ones. Also, the wheels were remounted with no change to the slop noticed. Compared with another ram with OEM LSD and that one felt pretty tight.
No play in up/down (12 o'clock and 6 o'clock)
 
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62Blazer

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If talking about in and out play, and assuming this a 1500 series truck, there will be some. There are not separate axle and wheel bearings on this style axle, only a single bearing at the axle ends that the axle shaft rides on and rotates, with the tire/wheel bolted directly to the axleshaft. In any case these bearings are not going to cause in and out play.
 

crash68

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Is it the whole axle that seem to move, it could be the bushings in the control arms and/or panhard bar.
If you had a shop install a new differential a couple of days ago, have them look at it if you think it's just the wheel/axle shaft moving.
 
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NOV87

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It is 1500 truck. Taliking about Rear axle. There's no really in/out movement, and that would be expected with c-clip kind of differential, I am talking about movement, if I grab rear wheel at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock and try to rock it side to side, then there's excessive play. It's been 20k miles, since the install. I found it out a couple of days ago. I am not being clear, my bad. Also, there are two sets of bearings. One set is mounted directly to the diff assy and the other one at the ends of the axle shafts.
Thank you for trying to help.
 
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NOV87

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Yesterday, checked both REAR WHEEL Bearings. Both good. Swapped them with new ones. Actual diff bearings (inside the pumpkin) are good as well, no play or anything. Had all four wheels balanced. They're slightly out. No vibration while driving at any speed. Checked front wheels bearings, drive shafts. No excessive play in any of the items. Rotors are slightly warped (got new all around brakes on order). Also, at low speed there's "womp, womp..." kind of sound (that's my main concern at the moment). Which increases frequency with truck speed. Can't repeat that when spinning the tires by hand. Wonder if warped Rotors could contribute to that.
Not sure where else to look. Transmission 65RFE? Shifts nicely with no flare ups.
 

RedSRT4Me

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Yesterday, checked both REAR WHEEL Bearings. Both good. Swapped them with new ones. Actual diff bearings (inside the pumpkin) are good as well, no play or anything. Had all four wheels balanced. They're slightly out. No vibration while driving at any speed. Checked front wheels bearings, drive shafts. No excessive play in any of the items. Rotors are slightly warped (got new all around brakes on order). Also, at low speed there's "womp, womp..." kind of sound (that's my main concern at the moment). Which increases frequency with truck speed. Can't repeat that when spinning the tires by hand. Wonder if warped Rotors could contribute to that.
Not sure where else to look. Transmission 65RFE? Shifts nicely with no flare ups.

Womp womps that increase with speed are usually wheel bearings most likely the front wheels.
 
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NOV87

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Already swapped the rear ones. The original rear bearings still looked good. Also. When spinning the tire I don't feel anything grinding in the spring or anywhere near. Checked the front bearings and there's no play at all. Everything checks out OK. No vibration etc. Thinking it's one of tires. I only noticed it after rotating tires. That said, I never specifically listened for that noise before that.
 

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Already swapped the rear ones. The original rear bearings still looked good. Also. When spinning the tire I don't feel anything grinding in the spring or anywhere near. Checked the front bearings and there's no play at all. Everything checks out OK. No vibration etc. Thinking it's one of tires. I only noticed it after rotating tires. That said, I never specifically listened for that noise before that.

There is no way to check the front bearings without removing them since they are sealed units.
 
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NOV87

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I am talking about side to side and top to bottom play. Correct me if I am wrong, but one should be able to feel it. Also, would it not be more noticeable when turning? Thank you for trying to help.
 

RedSRT4Me

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I am talking about side to side and top to bottom play. Correct me if I am wrong, but one should be able to feel it. Also, would it not be more noticeable when turning? Thank you for trying to help.

When my front wheel bearing wore out I could hear an audible noise when turning at speed like a banking turn on Arizona freeways.
 
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NOV87

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Rear driveshaft U-joint, next to the rear axle, turned out to be the culprit. Felt normal when turning by hand, no excessive play etc. Went ahead and swapped it anyway. No more "womping" sound. It also fixed minor vibration at 65mph. Pretty happy about it :)
 
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