vibration and clunking/clicking when coasting

[BigM4x4sc]

Truck: 2011 1500 CCSB Hemi 4x4 level in the front.

Background, just incase it might be applicable: (I'll try to make this short) About a month ago, for reason nobody has owned up to or agreed on yet, the drivers rear wheel and tire came off my truck. Luckily I was only going about 20-30mph, cause obviously I could tell something was going on. Unluckily it did strike another vehicle coming the other direction. I let the insurance company take care of my repairs, which was at a reputable shop that several people recommended. They replaced the wheel studs, lug nuts, rotor, wheel and tire.

Now: I got the truck back last week, and today was my third trip into work with it. Everything seemed fine, until i got on the interstate. There was a slight vibration as I was getting up to speed, but when I let out of the gas to slow down or just maintain speed the vibration got worse. It would pretty much go away when I would give it enough gas to start accelerating. Once I got off the interstate, I rolled the window down and could hear a kind of clicking or clunking that was speed sensitive. But both the vibration and sound would lessen and almost go away when accelerating. A little about driving it home now.

My first thought was a CV axle going. But after searching around some I'm now worried something else might be going on. I do know the truck was towed to the shop with a wheel lift truck, not a rollback. It was towed from the rear, but the driver did remove the front driveshaft. I checked a few things at lunch, passenger inner CV joint seems a little loose on shaft form the diff. And the front driveshaft will spin with truck off, all wheels on the ground, and in park. I think that's normal, but not sure. Truck is equipped with 4wd Auto.

Just looking for ideas on what might be going on. Thanks in advance.

 

[heckcat9]

That front shaft shouldn't be spinning. Unless I'm missing something, when the front wheels are on the ground and the truck is in park, the clutch in your transfer case should be the only point of disconnection, aka 2WD.

However, the driveshaft, despite being disconnected at the transfer case, is still connected to the front diff, axles, hubs, and wheels... Which means the friction between the tires and ground should keep it in place. I just checked my truck (1500 with BW44-44 and parked on the ground in 4WD auto), front shaft has a couple degrees of rotational play but does not spin freely at all.

Where you mention tow truck in your post, the part before truck is *'ed out and censored... What is this, Soviet Russian? Why is the forum auto censoring users' posts?

 

[BigM4x4sc]

So original the *'ed part was just the word ******. That's just what I've called them. Not sure what they are actually called. Ones that lift one set of wheels of the ground. I edited the post to a wheel lift truck.

Also truck was in 2wd when I checked it, and also when the wheel came off and while being towed.


edit: looks like it edited it here also. strange.

 

[RangerWeaver]

From what I can recall when I worked on these trucks as a mechanic (changed my field a few years ago), the front driveshaft is not supposed to be able to free spin with the front wheels on the ground but should have some minor play. I would have the front diff and transfer case looked at to see if the tow truck driver caused any damage.
I personally request a flatbed to tow my truck or have the shaft pulled to prevent damage due to improperly trained drivers.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Front CVs don't spin very fast. They don't usually vibrate but if something was excessively worn, maybe. A guy could put the vehicle in N and lift up on the inner and outer CV's with your hands and see if there's movement. A slight amt of movement would be normal. Also check that the large bolt that secures the axle stub to your bearing/hub in case it's loose. That might cause vibration. While you are there, lift up and down on your wheel to check for wheel bearing looseness. When people lift up their truck front ends it creates more movement at the CV joints (additional wear). But as new as your truck is, I doubt that's the case yet.

The driveshafts do spin fast enough to cause a vibration like you mentioned. But your truck is pretty new unless something got tweakd/bent/ etc. In N, push
up/down on them with vigor and see if they move, esp near the xfer case. You never know, the transfer case output shaft bushing could be prematurely worn.



Did you replace the wheel or is it the same wheel that came off? If it is the same wheel, it could be bent, a weight might have fallen off, the tire damaged ....or the lug holes egg'd out. I had a wheel almost fall off in a similar manor. I caught it
before it fell off, but in the few seconds it started to vibrate, it really goofed up the region where the lug nuts go.

Double-check the rotor and axle in the back didn't get damaged either, or some debris (dirt/gravel/etc) didn't get between the rotor and the axle, which would cause your wheel to wobble as you drive it.

Most shops want to slap stuff together and send vehicles down the road. You need a shop to put a dial indicator on that rear rotor, rotor face and wheel. And ensure it's running 'true' in all directions.

 

[heckcat9]

So original the *'ed part was just the word ******. That's just what I've called them. Not sure what they are actually called. Ones that lift one set of wheels of the ground. I edited the post to a wheel lift truck.

Also truck was in 2wd when I checked it, and also when the wheel came off and while being towed.


edit: looks like it edited it here also. strange.

Yeah it's a bummer the forum censors posts. I haven't found an option to disable it either...

Definitely check your driveshaft and front differential, something seems to be disconnected as that front shaft should not be rotating when the wheels are on the ground.

When you lift the front wheels off the ground and rotate the driveshaft, do the wheels rotate as well?

 

[BigM4x4sc]

So after checking things over again before I left work yesterday, I found that the lug nuts on the wheel and tire that had come off on its own before, were loose, again. So with yesterday being the 3rd trip I had taken in the truck since I got it back, I'm now thinking that there maybe something going on that is causing the lug nuts to loosen as I drive it. Not sure what that would be? My first thought was maybe the chrome clad alloy wheels don't have steel inserts at the stud holes, but I haven't had any of the lug nuts on any of the other wheels come loose. So going to drive my other vehicle for the rest of the week, and take the truck over to my dad's this weekend to see if we can figure anything out. My garage is wreak, and he has a lift.

I do know that the tow truck driver removed the front drive shaft before towing, cause I watched him do it. But I guess there could still be something going on that possibly has been there for a while and just not caused an issue.

While at my dad's I am going to look into the possible front drive shaft issue also. As thinking about it more, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be able to spin, but then I think it could? So if both CV axles are locked into the hubs, (since no select-able hubs), but then the passenger side axle has a disconnect at the CAD. So, I believe if the CAD is disconnected (so 2wd) and the transfer case is in 2wd (so also disconnected). The driveshaft would be able to spin with the wheels on the ground, cause the inner passenger side axle could spin while the driver side axle stayed in place. This is due to the nature of open differentials. Same as spinning a tire that is in air while the other is on the ground in an off camber situation. At least that's the way I'm seeing it in my head, but I could be missing something.

 

[heckcat9]

TIL: our trucks have axle disconnects. Yup, in 2WD the CAD's sleeve disconnects the axle allowing the spider gears and the inner half of the axle to effectively disconnect from the ring gear and driveshaft. So the driveshaft should be able to spin.

Did the shop seat the rotor and hub correctly and tap/press the studs all the way?