I did the drain and refill on my rear diff last night and still have a grinding sound when turning sharp at a low speed. after about 2 or 3 revolutions, it goes away. Ball joints? Pitman arm? Bearings? '03 2wd spindle lift - maybe something to do with the lift? Lift was done before I bought the truck.

 

What made you think it was the rear end? What about the axle bearings - changing the fluid wouldn't fix them.

Everything else you are asking about is front end... why? When you say 2 or 3 revolutions, do you mean of the tires? Steering wheel? Pitman arms don't grind, when you turn they thump. Ball joints don't grind either. Wheel bearing could, but there missing info to decide that's the answer.

 

I thought it was the rear end because when I came to this site I found out that a lot of people on this forum had the same problem (being the grind). So I did what they did (drain and refill rear fluids). By revs I mean 2 or 3 revs of the tires.

 

Masonball,are you sure its coming from the rear?If its in the front it could be wheel bearings.It could also be the rear brakes hangin up if it has disc brakes in the back or the axle bearings as someone else said

 

What fluid did you use? How much did you put in?

 

royal purple - 3 quarts of the specified gear lube - that's right, isn't it? owner's manual says 2.7 quarts.

 

Hmm. What was the condition of the oil that you drained out? And was there any shavings in it or on the magnet?

 

the oil I drained was just a little dark, the gears all looked clean and in tact, and there were shavings on the magnet, but not seemingly too much.

 

Are you sure its not a brake caliper hanging up?Jack up the rear and spin the wheels by hand and see if you can pinpoint the noise.Do the same on the front and also cheack the bearings for play.You say it goes away after a few revs of the tires.Mine was doing similar and it was a back caliper sticking.

 

I'm with Kevin on this, try to track it down, a guy can spend a fortune replacing parts hoping to get the right one.

 

Ya that's true, I did it on my last car. It was a '98 4Runner, and oddly enough the problem I was having was the rear brakes hanging up on the drums! How ironic is that? I had replaced the entire brake system before I found out that the drums were the problem.

 

Bryndon and Kevin24, I just got to work and I was thinking about my brakes on the way here. If my problem was my rear brakes hanging up, wouldn't that happen all the time? My rub or grind sound I'm feeling and hearing only happens at a take off from a dead stop with the wheels turned. The wheels can be turned just a little, or cranked all the way and it happens. When taking off from a dead start with the wheels facing straight forward, it's smooth and normal. So again, if it were the brakes, wouldn't it happen no matter if the wheels were turned or not?

 

Not always.My back caliper was hanging up and it didn't always do it.Where the caliper slides if you pull the pin out where the the little rubber boots are.These 2 pins should move freely and not stick.Pull them out,clean them and regrease.It could also be the caliper pistons sticking.This is if it is even the brakes.It could be something else also I don't know if it is the brakes but mine wasn't doing a grinding noise.It was more of a rubbing sound.If your lucky when you jack it up and cheack the sound will come out.It does sound like it could have something to do with the rear clutch w/ it doing it on take off w/ the wheels turned.

 

It sounds/feels more like a tire rub than it does a grind. Hopefully it's something like those pins or the caliper pistons, cause I know how to do that. I'll post what happens. When I bought the truck and replaced the pads the truck was on a jack and the wheels were spinning with no sound while jacked up. The rub sound was present even before I replaced the pads, but I think I remember the pins being real sticky.