nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Just bought a 98 Z28 that has Richmond 4.10 gears. Car drives nice and smooth but the rear end whines/howls pretty bad.

I have read that this is normal but this seems ridiculous.

Is there any thing I can do? Some kind of special gear oil or something?

When you nail the gas it is fairly quiet but when just cruising the noise comes and goes, I think with tension.

RONSBLACK1998TA

GM sells an additive that helped my stock rear. When I changed the fluid, I put in royal purple synthetic and the GM additive. noise was gone and a pretty simple fix. Since then I have upgraded to a Moser 12 bolt with 3.73 gears.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

Richmonds are noisey due to the angle of the gear cut and the type of material used. however it is quite possible they were setup wrong or beaten on and now they whine worse. noise is all relative to the owner. If you want something dead quiet you'll jhave to pull out those gears inspect the bearing and replace them with gm 4.10's, yukon or motive

VandykeT/A

Richmonds are noisey from what I hear but you could pull it out and maybe adjust the backlash some, might help, might make worse. Once they get a bad pattern its hard to get rid of the noise. More than likely its going to be there unless you get different gears and do it to spec.

dailydriver

Given the proper/precise (same) setup, the GM/AAM gearsets, followed by the G2 gearsets have been the quietest, in my experience (talking 10 bolts here, don't know about the other axles).

gm02ceta

iTrader: (9)

Do you any suspension mods like a torque arm or lowering springs?

dailydriver

Yes, these WILL amplify ANY rear axle noise/vibration (as will rod-ended lower control arms/panhard bar), but silence cannot be amplified.

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

It does an aftermarket torque arm set at 2.5 degrees and lowering springs.

Ill get the car jacked up and take a look.

Thanks for the help.

justin hover

I initially had bought richmonds...read about 50 threads on how they whine terribly....so I sent them back for motives. Its going to be hard to tell if their not installed properly, severly beat on, or just loud cause their richmonds without taking a look at them.

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Its so loud I cant imagine anyone would accept this level of noise without sending them back. Going to change the fluid and see if that helps, otherwise it will have to be taken in.

sgtrgpfdps

I did my first change went with mobil 1 really cleaned it good of the old stuff. Now quite as mouse.

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Does anyone know if the Random Technologies Adjustable Torque Arm would be causing my whine?

When coasting it makes no noise when going ***** to the wall it makes a little noise but when just cruising and maintaining a constant speed its horrible.

Going through the paperwork for the car it has:

Complete bearing replacement kit
Richmond 4.10:1 gears
Solid pinion crush sleeve
Moser moly steel 28 spline axels with speed sensor adapters
Extra long wheel studs
ARP main cap Stud kit
Aluminum Girdle
Stock Auburn Limited Slip diff - 88k on it.

Most of that doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me. The work was done at a profession shop a few years ago, the car did sit for about 3 years with less than 100 miles being put on in that time.

Any help would be appreciated.

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Here are some pictures:





Lots of oily mess around the yoke area.

Tom94TA

If it's leaking, make sure the oil level isn't low. The gear lube should be level with the plug hole in the side of the differential housing. Don't use the upper hole on the girdle cover for anything, it's too high to use as a level check and would result in overfilling the rear end.
If the fluid didn't get too low maybe filling it up to the correct level will quite it down somewhat. I tried using 85/140 wt oil in my 10 bolt once to try to cushion the 4.10s I had but my Auburn posi started slipping worse than it was so I went back to 80/90, my point being to stay with 80/90 wt IMO.
As to your leak sometimes gear lube works its way up the pinion splines and out from under the pinion nut and washer. I've had luck cleaning the nut and yoke very well and running a filet of rtv around the nut to yoke area to seal it.
If it's the pinion seal thats leaking the solid pinion spacer that rear was built with will make it easy to change seal.
Looking at the build specs and giving the shop the benefit of the doubt, maybe the PO was too hard on the rear end before the gears broke in. If that's the case you're probably going to have to replace them. I used AAM 4.10 gears and they were quiet.

Nate, LS1 huh? The Evil Opti won't be happy.

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the advice, sounds like it currently has too much fluid - I used that top plug on the cover.

Yes, a small upgrade for me . LT1 is out front for sale as we speak :/

dailydriver

I have that same exact torque arm and cover.

I mainly have whine only on decel/coast, so I suspect that my gears were not set up correctly to begin with, and that arm, combined with my Roto-Jointed LCAs and PHB make sure that they transmit ALL of that whine right into the passenger compartment.

And yes, IF you use the upper port of the Mac cover to fill the axle, put NO MORE THAN 2 quarts through there!!

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Got a picture of the rear part of your torque arm? Curious to see what yours is set at.

dailydriver

I do not have a pic, but mine was set up for handling/road racing/etc. and NOT drag racing/launching/60 footing, like everyone else on here.
Just like my rear LCAs are mounted in either the middle hole, or upper hole of the adjustable brackets, for handling over launching.

(I am willing to give up those straight line benefits in order to get better; braking without rear wheel lockup, turn-in, weight transfer, corner exit power, etc.)