tracker rearend noises

[dynabill]

Hi all, I have a 1999 chevy tracker, 2.0l 4 dr auto,, It has been a great car, once i put a new motor in it three years ago. It is now making a cliking in the differential. I am told that 1999 is the only year with abs brakes, so it kind of limits my donor cars. several years ago, i put a rear end and axles from a 1999 into a 2000 tracker. The axles and rearend outlasted the 20 year old kid I sold it to all of the 4 wheeling antics he did with it. i am wondering if a 2000 rear end can be transferred into a 1999, or does the abs effect that relationship. when I replaced the 2000 rear end, i tried to use the 2000 axles and they wouldnt work. so I used the 99axles and the only difference was I had to use different brake shoes and brake drums. I had the 99 for a parts car, so it was just a little work and everything worked. what are your thoughts, can I use a 2000 rear end and axles in a 1999 tracker. thanks Bill

[fixkick]

EPC, catalog checked.:
thats correct lots of variables.
the gear ratio is diff, each transmission type.
the ABS parts, i think are all on the brake backing plate and the tone ring of , axle ends.
you're thinking gee, what are the least parts i can change or just direct swap.
that tone ring required, axles shaft pulls.
the 99/00 tracker is really a vitara. both made in CAMI side by side.
Called the SQ420L by Suz. 2.0L
99 to 03 parts are same... mostly. i this domain.
the 3rd member is. has one partnumber. for all 4 years. M/T only
the A/T all 99/00 3rd members are same, p/n (swap it)

in 2001 minor changes inside, shims, and things, (oddly) and the gear set changed,2001,. (ratio?)
next is housings, no 99/00 diffs. but ABS has unique partnumber, i suspect there is a change on the end of housing tubes. near tone wheel, area?
its not axle spline diffs. because the side gears are same p/n.
the Tone ring sensor ,is it NOT, ported to the axle? housing ends.. look at the sensor where it inserts into tone ring area... this will be the key fact, i bet.

not just some clip bracket (but do look for something like that a, unique abs tabs on housing?)<<< minor,, above is major.
that leaves axles and brakes and all brake pages for 2000 all end now in 67Dxx all parts and drums are unique, in 2000 the whole pages. is.

axles, are unique on 99, abs or not. then changed.
abs axles are unique, there are 4 axle permutations, 99/00+/abs/nonabs.
my wild guess? to keep wheel base the same. they shortened the housing and added tone wheel casing and were forced to change axle ends.
my guess, is the machined surface for the bearing locker was made longer, to accommodate the tone wheel.
the bearing retainer too, has new ABS number. so it might be shorter or has new I.D. inside diameter..../??? but is diffr, for sure.

that's it. 3rdmember./housing /axles,/brakes.


I'd (imo) pull the axles and put on new bearings. see that video yet.? I Have it.
with new bearings, she might be happy.
i just did mine. (04) (no abs grand vit/tracker) some FSM's forget to say use the RTV at point XXX. very bad error, in GM books.
http://www.fixkick.com/axles/axle_rear_R&R.html

or is bad wheel cylinder causing shoe to make noise.? or emg brake cable rusted, causing same>?
my electronic stethoscope can find which 3 places it makes noise, if non, then U-joint is bad, by process of elimination.
http://www.amazon.com/Steelman-97220-Eng...+%23+97220

discounted,

i use fancy $10 walfart stereo head phones, to hear 100% better.using this device.
for sure you can find if it is in the axle. it will be load. and can move the microphone end to end and center. and even drive. (phone guy passenger)

---

fly on wall.? (jokes 1/2 true)
Suzuki body engineer Baka says, sorry, Akira, not changing the body, nop ????????
not wheel base, so not even fender plastics.... gomen nasai
axle engineer, scratches head;hummmmm, Baka, you make me work overtime. thanks, I needed the cash. (I yen for yen?) LOL


finding Noises, is no picnic. good luck to you.

[dynabill]

Hi Jerry thanks for stopping by, helpful info you gave me there. I am sure that clicking noise is coming from differential/u joint. I pulled axles tonite and bearing are in good shape, tho i will prob replace given the time i have. Before i pulled the axles, i put car up on jack stands and started car and put in drive. i verified that it is coming from center of car (differential is what i was thinking) . i will prob pull drive shaft tomorrow evening,and give the u joint a good looking over before i commit to pulling the differential. I am thinking that the 99 tracker i am working on doesnt have abs, no abs light present on the dashboard. no obvious wires or connectors entering into the axle cavities. also, the gear oil that dripped from the axle cavity was still pretty clear, not black and used up. so I thought that was a pretty good sign.
So from what i gathered from your reply that if I use a 2000 rearend, I need to use same year axles to make everything work,
I will let you know what I find on the u joint tomorrow. thanks for your help.
another thing, I couldnt get the video link to work on bearing replacements It says that this video is private. maybe if you gave me more info about the link, such as name or who put it out, I might have better luck. thanks Bill

[fixkick]

yes, the video guy , made it private, and now you need youtube account to view it. . (i dont)
here is a very low quality version. 25mB. (smallest of all, by 3 times )

down load, and use windows, to view wmv.

i see the ABS ports on ends of axle here,

http://ge.tt/4Dh9fln1/v/0?c

[dynabill]

Hi jerry,
thanks for the link to the video, it helped a lot with the abs location.
ya I dont have the abs on this car woohoo right? I pulled the drive shaft and the u joints are ok, I will prob replace them. while under the car with the d-shaft removed, I spun the diff and it would spin freely for about 4-5 turns but then it would bind up, a little. I could rock it back and forth and it would still be a little stiff, not so much as I would have to strain to get it to move, but just enough that i could tell there was a little binding. i used the holes on the drive shaft mounting bracket as my gauge to count the turns. I think the next move is to pull the diff and give it a cleaning and see if I can find where the binding is and look for wear on the gears.
Just a little more history on the rear end. i had about 15 miles to get to my dads farm ( middle of the night taking my dad home from the hospital) when the worst part of the diff started making noises (it was doing it occasionally before) it started out loud, and then finally subsided to just a minor clicking, I drove at about 15 miles and hour when the worst started, and after it subsided some i was able to drive about 35 without fear of it tearing apart. I had it towed home and it sat until I started this thread.
im gonna go drain the diff oil and see what I can find in the oil. Cheers Bill

[fixkick]

sorry got confused with other post.

if the GL lube drains metal chip free, its probably ok , the 3rd member.
ouch, the ring gear is warped? that is, that bind up... seems to me.
very hard to do with only 95hp, really is less. past the tranny. like 85hp, the axle can take 200 i think.
(pull both axles )see if it still binds?
might save time. ???
well any why you found the axles is bad. only what parts is only worry.
but if the axles bearings are not bad, you need a new 3rd.member, pig. (with correct gear ratio) 5.125:1

[dynabill]

Hi jerry, yes i think it is the differential, I had axles pulled when i was counting revolutions, thats when it binds alittle, more like a tight spot. there was some metal stuck to the drain plug when I pulled it last night. found one little metal piece, kind of like a finger nail clipping. quite a few fileings too. I found one local $350 that seems like the going price on these. so looks like my weekend is planned now. haha. cheers Bill

[dynabill]

Hi jerry, I found this for diffeential gasket, I was wondering if you could verify it, the top one thanks Bill

http://www.midwest-autoparts.com/ShopByV...ts&mode=PA

[dynabill]

       
hey jerry, I finally got around to pulling the differential, here is what I found. It looks like one of the keeper splines (?) got loose and was grinding on the big gear (?) any way I have some pics. I cleaned the differential housing and got a lot of metal chips. what I am wondering now is if there are some in the axle housing and if I need to be concerned about if there are some more metal filings in the axle houseing and if I need to get that cleaned out also. I used brake cleaner inside diff housing,and wiped with a clean rag several times to insure most filings were gone. I have new seals ordered and have time to do a thourough job, should I spray axle housing with cleaner to, once seals are removed. or put it back together and change diff oil in a few hundred miles. thanks for your time. Cheers Bill

[fixkick]

boy that is an odd failure, i wonder how the pin got loose.?