SN95 The Noise My Car Has Been Making... (video)

02 281 GT · Feb 12, 2015

I finally decided to make a video of the grinding/bumping noise my car has been making. This has been going on for nearly three years now. Due to having no work space for the car at the house, limited access to replacement parts (unless I want to wait two weeks or more for them to be shipped) here in Germany, and my work schedule, I haven't been able to really take the time to figure out where the noise is coming from.

In the past three years, I have done the following to try to fix it:
New rear axle bearings.
Rebuilt rear end with FRPP carbon fiber diff clutch set.
All new brakes; rotors, calipers, brackets, etc.

The rear end needed to be rebuilt anyway as the gears had been setup incorrectly before I left the states. The downside to this is the ridiculous labor rates here in Germany. I ended up having to pay €600 even with me supplying all parts (about $800 with the exchange rate at the time). So next time you get quoted north of $300 for a gear install with just labor, just be thankful you don't live in Germany.

Anyway, I made about a ten minute video and posted it to youtube. There are annotations for extra information as well as subtitles since sometimes it's difficult to hear what I'm saying.

1995 SVT Cobra ride-along - the noises my car makes

I think I've stated all the pertinent information. We only have a year left in Germany, so I'm not even sure I'm going to try to fix it before we leave. It really ticks me off that I haven't been able to enjoy it here like I could have. Anyway, enjoy the video.

Boosted92LX · Feb 12, 2015

Do you have a factory steel driveshaft in the car? Mine behaved the same at speed until I replaced it with an FRPP alum driveshaft. Smooth as butter now. Pretty common problem, several members here can attest to it.

02 281 GT · Feb 12, 2015

I do indeed have the factory driveshaft. The u-joints don't feel like they have play, but it could be unbalanced. As stated in the video, the only things that have yet to be replaced are the axles and the rear end itself; add the driveshaft to that. That's probably the culprit for the high-speed vibration, but probably isn't for the low speed noise.

MFE92 · Feb 12, 2015

The two noises are unrelated, and your high-speed noise will be cured if you install an FRPP aluminum driveshaft, which raises the resonant speed higher to a range you're less likely to hear until you're really hauling ass.

The low speed one sounds like an axle going bad, and if you hear it more around left turns then it would be the right axle. But I'd be shocked if any decent shop installed gears and didn't notice a problem with the axles themselves.

Could also be tires that are flat-spotted from sitting a while. Does the low speed vibration go away after the car has been driven a while?

02 281 GT · Feb 12, 2015

MFE92 said:
The two noises are unrelated, and your high-speed noise will be cured if you install an FRPP aluminum driveshaft, which raises the resonant speed higher to a range you're less likely to hear until you're really hauling ass.

The low speed one sounds like an axle going bad, and if you hear it more around left turns then it would be the right axle. But I'd be shocked if any decent shop installed gears and didn't notice a problem with the axles themselves.

Could also be tires that are flat-spotted from sitting a while. Does the low speed vibration go away after the car has been driven a while?

The car has gone through phases of sitting for a while and being driven almost daily over the last three years. The low speed noise has always been the same regardless of how much it was being driven at the time. Axles are really the only thing left to try to fix that problem. I could just run down to the pick and pull if I were back home, but getting a used axle here is next to impossible unless I find someone willing to ship it.

The shop that originally did the gears also removed the axle damper. I don't know if that would affect anything.

MFE92 · Feb 12, 2015

Removing the axle damper is why you're hearing the high speed noise. That's exactly what it's there to attenuate. As for the axles, you can get "axle saver" aka "axle repair" bearings whose bearing surface is offset inboard to what should be fresh unmolested surface of the axle. They're fairly cheap and they install just like regular ones.

Boosted92LX · Feb 12, 2015

02 281 GT said:
The car has gone through phases of sitting for a while and being driven almost daily over the last three years. The low speed noise has always been the same regardless of how much it was being driven at the time. Axles are really the only thing left to try to fix that problem. I could just run down to the pick and pull if I were back home, but getting a used axle here is next to impossible unless I find someone willing to ship it.

The shop that originally did the gears also removed the axle damper. I don't know if that would affect anything.

I have a pair of axles in my car that I believe to be sn axles that I can't use. I'm about to pull them out.. you can have them if you want to pick up shipping cost. The only problem is I'm not really positive they will fit your car... All I know at this point is they don't fit mine..

EDIT: sounds like @MFE92 has a more simple solution. PM me if needed.

02 281 GT · Feb 12, 2015

Boosted92LX said:
I have a pair of axles in my car that I believe to be sn axles that I can't use. I'm about to pull them out.. you can have them if you want to pick up shipping cost. The only problem is I'm not really positive they will fit your car... All I know at this point is they don't fit mine..

EDIT: sounds like @MFE92 has a more simple solution. PM me if needed.

PM sent. You don't happen to have an axle damper as well, do you? Haha.

Boosted92LX · Feb 12, 2015

02 281 GT said:
PM sent. You don't happen to have an axle damper as well, do you? Haha.

Eh, I might. I'll dig around when I get off. I do have a parts car (fox) that i think has one, but it's a 4 cyl with a 7.5 rear end.. @MFE92 would it be the same?

02 281 GT · Feb 12, 2015

Boosted92LX said:
Eh, I might. I'll dig around when I get off. I do have a parts car (fox) that i think has one, but it's a 4 cyl with a 7.5 rear end.. @MFE92 would it be the same?

According to fordparts.com, it isn't, unfortunately. Thanks, though.

Boosted92LX · Feb 12, 2015

02 281 GT said:
According to fordparts.com, it isn't, unfortunately. Thanks, though.

Pics sent of axles.

02 281 GT · May 26, 2015

Well, I finally got rid of the noise. What was causing it?

MY TIRES.

The front ones to be exact. Way back when I bought my wheels, I had no idea that they had a larger center bore than the factory wheels and needed to be run with hub-centric rings to balance correctly. I didn't figure this out for a while. I evidently drove on them long enough to cup the front tires pretty badly (You could see the abnormal wear very easily). I bought a new set of tires (that only took a week to arrive) that were installed today. The noise is gone. I feel relieved and stupid at the same time.

A backseat (and trunk) full of tires.

They're Continental Extreme Contact DW. Car and Driver reported that they're one of the most predictable and best handling tires in the wet, which is why I went with them. It rains a lot over here, so the top priority was a tire that wouldn't put me into a ditch when it's misting out.

Anyway, the noise is gone, but for some reason, the steering wheels shimmy at 50-60 mph and the 100+mph vibration are still there. I'll be looking into those next.

elarm1 · May 26, 2015

I had a set of those tires on my 92 SHO. You'll love em!

Boosted92LX · May 26, 2015

02 281 GT said:
Anyway, the noise is gone, but for some reason, the steering wheels shimmy at 50-60 mph and the 100+mph vibration are still there. I'll be looking into those next.

I'll betcha a diet DR Pepper the 100 mph vibration is the driveshaft.

02 281 GT · May 26, 2015

Boosted92LX said:
I'll betcha a diet DR Pepper the 100 mph vibration is the driveshaft.

That's what I was thinking. I'd like to just get an aluminum drive shaft, but they're pricey these days. I should have bought one years ago when they cost less than $200.

Boosted92LX · May 26, 2015

02 281 GT said:
That's what I was thinking. I'd like to just get an aluminum drive shaft, but they're pricey these days. I should have bought one years ago when they cost less than $200.

Uh-huh. I hated dropping the money on mine, but it sure is nice to drive now... when I get to drive it.

mikestang63 · May 26, 2015

shimmy at 50-60 is usually improper wheel balance. high speed i agree the driveshaft.

A5literMan · May 26, 2015

The alum driveshaft and new joints got rid of my vibration fwiw

02 281 GT · May 27, 2015

mikestang63 said:
shimmy at 50-60 is usually improper wheel balance. high speed i agree the driveshaft.

That's what I thought, but this is the same 50-60 shimmy I had with the old tires.

I'll probably take it somewhere else and have them balanced again.

I'll probably just get the driveshaft. It's expensive, but it'll be worth it.

Boosted92LX · May 27, 2015

02 281 GT said:
That's what I thought, but this is the same 50-60 shimmy I had with the old tires.

I'll probably take it somewhere else and have them balanced again.

I'll probably just get the driveshaft. It's expensive, but it'll be worth it.

Check your tie rods and ball joints. While I haven't had it happen on a fox or sn car, I've had others that shimmied with one or all of the above in bad shape.

SN95 The Noise My Car Has Been Making... (video)

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

MFE92

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

MFE92

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

elarm1

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

mikestang63

A5literMan

At least it is lumpy...

02 281 GT

Agreed...My wife has great Boobs

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

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