Howling Noise

[rocket1lf]

Since I'm new to this thing, I don't know if this is normal. It seems like when I pulling a load on the trike, like going up a hill or accelerating, I start hearing a howling noise like a bearing is singing. It gets so loud a group of classic car guys heard me go by and when I met up with them at a restaurant, they asked me what was wrong. The noise seems to be related the trike rolling. It doesn't get any worse when the engine rpm increases or the transmission shifts to a lower gear. It does get fairly loud and I wear a helmet and can hear it. It's not as bad at low speeds as moving along at 50-70. If I'm on a level road or not pulling going up a hill or accelerating, it doesn't seem to make any noise. What do you think? Bearing, rear end? The trike only has a little over 12000 miles on it.

 

[Bikerbozo]

Maybe something with brakes? Parking brake maybe? Cat hiding in engine? Gremlin?

 

[rocket1lf]

Maybe something with brakes? Parking brake maybe? Cat hiding in engine? Gremlin?

Doesn't sound like brakes. After riding 100 miles, the don't seem hot or smell.

 

[tomg]

I would check to make sure the front bearings are not smoking hot, then I would suspect the rear end. I had that problem when I first bought mine, they changed out the rear end and no further problems with the noise.

Tomg

 

[rocket1lf]

I would check to make sure the front bearings are not smoking hot, then I would suspect the rear end. I had that problem when I first bought mine, they changed out the rear end and no further problems with the noise.

Tomg

I was thinking the rear end more than bearings because it happens under load mostly. I think I'll call Texas Monday and see what they have to say.

 

[rocket1lf]

Well, the general consensus from the shop here is the ring and pinion. It also has a very loose tri link on the suspension. I call Thoroughbred about it since the trike has only 12000 miles on it. They don't care. It's my problem. Looks like I'm going to be stuck with a large bill ..

 

[Gorilla]

Well, the general consensus from the shop here is the ring and pinion. It also has a very loose tri link on the suspension. I call Thoroughbred about it since the trike has only 12000 miles on it. They don't care. It's my problem. Looks like I'm going to be stuck with a large bill ..

Your trike is an 08. Thats 6 years old. The warrantee is 3 years. I would not expect them to repair it under warrantee. It seems to me that you may have gotten taken by the previous owner. Or it may just have developed this problem now. Mileage is not everything in vehicles. As a matter of fact low mileage on a vehicle of some number of years can be bad because of lack of use. Things dry up like rubber. Lubes go bad from condensation and not being able to burn it off. The rear end is out of a 07 Ford Ranger so it should not be real difficult to find a replacement. You might consider replacing just the ring and pinion because the whole housing had mounting tabs welded on for the linkage etc. Find a good shop that knows how to repair not just replace parts and they should be able to fix you up. Good Luck I don't think the repair will be as costly as you think it is.

 

[rocket1lf]

I talked with my local auto shop that I've been doing business with for over twenty years. He recommended a driveshaft and differential shop that quoted a worse case of $1000 to $1200. You are correct about Thoroughbred not covering it. At least they could have admitted they have had trouble with them in the past as stated on this form instead of just saying they haven't had any problems. You are correct again about the possibility of being taken by the previous owner. I don't know if he knew there was a problem or not. I will be taking it to the shop later this week or the beginning of next week and letting them repair it as I don't want to do any more damage to it.

 

[John Luciano]

$1,000 seems high, but then mechanics do get paid well and shops do charge high labor. I would check to see what rear it has ( probably Ford ) see what the newest year is a match , go to wrecking yard an pull that and install it. You should be able to get the whole pumpkin ( all the guts ring & Pinion ) install is pretty straightforward , pull axels ,remove drive shaft ,remove bolts, remove guts, put in new gears ,replace bolts and axels Hook up drive shaft and refill.
with gear lube.
u could use this opportunity to Change gear ratio.

 

[vw driver]

Have you checked the oil level in the rear end?

 

[John Luciano]

Good one VW. Also there are bearing on the rear wheel hubs...

 

[rocket1lf]

Thanks for all your advice. The trike goes in tomorrow and they will work on it the beginning of the week. Hope it's just a bearing, but with my luck, it probably isn't. I'll post the findings when I know.

 

[Doc7402]

Thanks for all your advice. The trike goes in tomorrow and they will work on it the beginning of the week. Hope it's just a bearing, but with my luck, it probably isn't. I'll post the findings when I know.

did you buy it from a private seller ? or dealer? I hadn't heard about any trouble from the rear ends before ,but like my A/C only 6500 mile onit and it had a bad leak ...good luck...Doc

 

[rocket1lf]

So here is the bad news. There are aftermarket gears in the differential. When the lube was drained, it smelled like it was burned. The backlash was excessive causing the gears to wear and start getting burn marks on them. The gears and bearings are shot. It's just short of a $1300.00 repair using factory OEM gears. With under 13000 miles on the trike, Thoroughbred claims no responsibility, because of it's age, even though it was not set up properly from the beginning.

Just for info, I'm dropping to a 3.73 gear, which should get me some better gas mileage. The one that's in there is a 4.10.

 

[Dean H]

So here is the bad news. There are aftermarket gears in the differential. When the lube was drained, it smelled like it was burned. The backlash was excessive causing the gears to wear and start getting burn marks on them. The gears and bearings are shot. It's just short of a $1300.00 repair using factory OEM gears. With under 13000 miles on the trike, Thoroughbred claims no responsibility, because of it's age, even though it was not set up properly from the beginning.

Just for info, I'm dropping to a 3.73 gear, which should get me some better gas mileage. The one that's in there is a 4.10.

It will be interesting to see the mileage difference.

 

[trikervet]

From my recollection, that's the first rear end I've seen to go on a Stallion on this forum.

 

[rocket1lf]

I heard from some other people that had problems and Thoroughbred replace theirs.

 

[Gorilla]

Also I have not heard of a Stallion rear end going bad. We have had a Stallion since March of 08 and been on this forum since Oct of 08. If it happen to someone else it was not reported here and it was not a prevalent failure. I would think that if the back lash was out of spec it would of howled from the very beginning. I also don't know what would of made it go out of spec after 5 years and 12000 miles. Any chance the previous owner changed the rear end? You state that the parts were after market per your mechanic. Being that TBMS purchased the complete drive train from Ford as a complete Unit the parts in the rear end should of been FORD. I was at the factory in 2009 and I saw the drive trains as they were delivered from Ford and they were a complete drive train unit ship as a whole on one pallet. So the question comes up how did after market parts get in the rear end.

 

[rocket1lf]

Also I have not heard of a Stallion rear end going bad. We have had a Stallion since March of 08 and been on this forum since Oct of 08. If it happen to someone else it was not reported here and it was not a prevalent failure. I would think that if the back lash was out of spec it would of howled from the very beginning. I also don't know what would of made it go out of spec after 5 years and 12000 miles. Any chance the previous owner changed the rear end? You state that the parts were after market per your mechanic. Being that TBMS purchased the complete drive train from Ford as a complete Unit the parts in the rear end should of been FORD. I was at the factory in 2009 and I saw the drive trains as they were delivered from Ford and they were a complete drive train unit ship as a whole on one pallet. So the question comes up how did after market parts get in the rear end.

Check the fourth post in this thread. The previous owner purchased it new and didn't change anything. The rear end is narrower than anything Ford put on a Ranger, so it may have been ordered different. The backlash was at .018. Specs on the unit that was in there is supposed to be between .006 and .010. A Ford OEM unit is set between .011 and .016. Somebody screwed up.

I just spoke with Richard. They order a complete driveline from a company that supplies parts to Ford, but he's not sure if it has an OEM gear set in it, which my shop says it doesn't. It will now. I'll see if they can find out who manufactures the one that's in there.

 

[John Luciano]

That is quite a jump in Ratio. Where is that gear set coming from? Will be interesting on how the MPG is effected and the off the line performance is. Keep us if the loop please

 

[rocket1lf]

That is quite a jump in Ratio. Where is that gear set coming from? Will be interesting on how the MPG is effected and the off the line performance is. Keep us if the loop please

With an OEM you have a choice of 4:10 or 3:73. I was told it will drop the RPM between 200 and 300 RPM at 70mph. I got a chance to see the old and new gear sets. There is no comparison between what came out and what's going in. The old set was barely engaging the gears and there was a lot of metal shavings on the gears and in the bearings. The old set was a 2-5 cut and the OEM is a 2-2 cut, whatever that means. We couldn't match the numbers on it to any manufacturer. It definitely wasn't a Ford set.

 

[rocket1lf]

I just got home with the trike. It was definitely the rear end as it's quiet now. The down side of changing the gear ratio is the speedo is now reading 5mph low at 70mph. The GPS says 70mph and the speedo reads 65mph. At 35 on the GPS, the speedo reads 32.5mph. Kind of like my Goldwing in reverse. I just have to remember this to keep out of trouble.

I don't remember what the tach was reading before, but now with 65mph on the GPS it's at 2200rpm and at 70mph on the GPS it's at 2300rpm. It seems to accelerate from a stop smoother and it still has plenty of get up and go.

I have the ring and pinion gear set. I'm going to do some research on it to see if I can find the manufacturer with the numbers and stamping on it. It sure doesn't look anything like the Ford one they replaced it with.

 

[John Luciano]

What was the bottom line? $

 

[rocket1lf]

What was the bottom line? $

$1287.93. A whole bunch....