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What could cause this problem?

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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 11:13 AM
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Default What could cause this problem?

Looks like my Formula is getting to a point where I'm going to have to be doing repairs on it for a while... I was noticing this yesterday when I was driving around in the Formula, and I'm trying to figure out what could cause this.

So anyway.. When I am driving the car slow, like just barely rolling to about 5 mph... I can feel this thump coming from the back of the car that seems to be perfectly timed with the rotation of the wheels.... one thump per rotation, it slows down and speeds up as the car does, and does not change under braking or cornering.. once I get up past 10mph I think it's happening so fast that it feels constant.

At first I thought it might be a flat spot in the tire or something, but it still did it after a 45 minute drive on the freeway @ 60+ mph the whole way.

It doesn't seem to make an audible sound, but it can definitely be felt and varies with the speed of the car..

Any idea what that might be?
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 11:58 AM
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rear end maybe????
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:02 PM
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take off the rearend cover and have a look. might have knocked off a tooth on the ring gear??
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:02 PM
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mud on the wheel or lose lug nuts... wild guesses both
look for worn spots or debris or something imebed in a tire.
Describe the thump better. Does the car shake move with it at all or is it strictly just an audible noise. You said you can feel a thump. Can you hear it?
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:04 PM
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Check wheels and tires first but otherwise you may wanna open that rearend up...
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:06 PM
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thats the same noise mine was making when i broke teeth off my ring gear!!!!
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:11 PM
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I'm guessing a tooth...
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:16 PM
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Originally Posted by 99blancoSS
mud on the wheel or lose lug nuts... wild guesses both
look for worn spots or debris or something imebed in a tire.
Describe the thump better. Does the car shake move with it at all or is it strictly just an audible noise. You said you can feel a thump. Can you hear it?
It's definitely not mud on the wheel or a loose lug nut. The wheels were spotlessly clean for the car show I went to, and I'd triple checked the torque on the lug nuts at 100 ft lbs.

It's not an audible noise, it's a thump you can feel but not hear, and the speed it occurs at matches the rotation of the tires.
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:24 PM
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Are the tires new? I had a defective side wall once that produced a bulge that accounted for a problem once. Check the tires out real good. I would look at all else before popping the cover off the diff. Sounds like it just happened all of a sudden right? Check out the u joint as well. Sounds like you think its a tire or wheel. At least that would be the easiest solution.
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by 99blancoSS
Are the tires new? I had a defective side wall once that produced a bulge that accounted for a problem once. Check the tires out real good. I would look at all else before popping the cover off the diff. Sounds like it just happened all of a sudden right? Check out the u joint as well. Sounds like you think its a tire or wheel. At least that would be the easiest solution.
The tires aren't "new", but they only have about 2000 miles on them... I put them on the car last April. I'm gonna switch it back to the 16" stockers for the next race, and I'll take it out for a drive to see if it still does it.. that eliminates tires completely if it does.

Dunno how long it's been doing it, this is one of the first times in a while I've driven the car around without listening to music or something.
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 12:53 PM
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Just turn the radio back up
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 01:01 PM
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Well, since it IS a Randy's Ring & Pinion rear end.....must be the muffler bearings going out.

OK, that was for affect. Look to see if your rear yoke is hitting the I-pipe. Mine made the same sound. And obviously when you jack the car up, all the trajecotry changes, so you have to chek it with the suspension loaded.
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by WAHUSKER
Well, since it IS a Randy's Ring & Pinion rear end.....must be the muffler bearings going out.
I think you're getting senile there, Santa..

Northwest Differential is the only rear end shop that has ever done any work on my car..

Originally Posted by WAHUSKER
OK, that was for affect. Look to see if your rear yoke is hitting the I-pipe. Mine made the same sound. And obviously when you jack the car up, all the trajecotry changes, so you have to chek it with the suspension loaded.
I'll take a look at it, but I dunno if that's something that would change over time, since I haven't really done any mods underneath the car other than adding a DSL.
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 02:07 PM
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Would be curious to know what you find, seems I could have the same problem as well. Posted something in the axle section asking if anyone might have a suggestion to look but got no responses. It could have been there since I bought the car, I discovered it same way you did, turned off the radio for once and could barely hear it. My first RWD car so not to familiar with how things should look so I do what the general public does when they don't knwow hat could be wrong, look and stare and hope you see something that may "look" broken!

Guy I bought the car from is a mechanic and I know he changed a bearing or something in the rear end that was making a squeeking and he said other than the bearing everything else looked fine. After seeing someone suggest the tires it could be what is causing mine, side wall on one of my tires looks really worn (like it was driven with it low... really low...) considering taking the rims/tires off the GTP and swapping to see if it goes away now.

Maybe it is suppose to be there?
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 06:33 PM
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Sorry, I thought when we were doing the swap Aaron said your was from his shop.

I would think it is NOT your ring or pinion gear considering your power level & an auto. And spiders usually make noise going around corners. So I would take a close look at clearances. Wheels vs snubbers, stuff like that. Drive shaft vs exhaust is possible, but you said it's the same frequency as the tires, so I'm thinking wheels or tires are hitting something.

Jack it up & put it into drive & see if it gets worse or goes away with rear end position changes vs the car. Then you can crawl under & see if you can find it.....or take it to Dan.
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 07:26 PM
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Yeah, it doesn't change when going around corners, braking, anything. I never had trouble with those tires rubbing before. Hmmmm.
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 09:34 PM
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Rear end gears...
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Old Jul 31, 2006 | 09:57 PM
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sounds like a seperated tire to me at first but gears are another option... is there a vibration associated with it?
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Old Aug 1, 2006 | 02:47 AM
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Originally Posted by B-RAD2
rear end maybe????
Take the groceries out.
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Old Aug 1, 2006 | 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Ryan K
Rear end gears...
As I think about it more, it could be the ring gear. The pinion will be spinning at ~ 3 1/2 times the tires, as would the D/S. Gotta think about anything that is spinning at the rate of your noise.....& spiders make more of a snapping sound to begin with.
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