The relevant part of my 8.8 setup:
35-spline Strange axles (c-clip eliminators, etc, and had everything came assembled)
35-spline Strange S-trac differential
Strange ABS reluctor wheels, etc
The problem(s) i'm coming across:
When the rear gets hotter after longer drives (or really hard driving) the left rear axle feels like it's binding and popping/clunking on left-hand turns. There's also a bit of a squeal and almost a grind from the outside edge. It just started doing that the other day after a fairly long drive around town to try to get the noise audible.
No other noises, no whining, grinding or anything under other conditions. Drives straight fine, right-hand turns fine. The rear makes zero noise on shorter drives around town.
The c-clip eliminator on the left (driver's) side leaks a decent bit too. It's not a full drip, but I can see fluid inside the barrel of the wheel.
What i've done so far:
I pulled apart the whole left side assembled, cleaned, greased, inspected the seals and tried to seal it up again hoping the leaking would stop. It still leaks.
I also thought maybe the rear was low on fluid, so I drained it (all looked fine with no metal deposits) and refilled with the recommended fluid from Strange.
Next steps:
I ordered a new rear axle seal and retaining ring from Strange, thinking maybe the axle seal is going (or is) bad and it's causing friction in the assemble. Otherwise, i'm kinda out of ideas. Rear-ends aren't something I've done a lot of work on and i'm sure I could easily just take this to the good local speed shop, but I also kind of want to fix this one myself and get some learning in. I've done everything else on this car so might as well try to see.
What else am I missing? Maybe I need to open up the rear and visually inspect the differential itself? I'd assume I would have seen more particulates in the fluid change, but again, not super knowledgable here.
35-spline Strange axles (c-clip eliminators, etc, and had everything came assembled)
35-spline Strange S-trac differential
Strange ABS reluctor wheels, etc
The problem(s) i'm coming across:
When the rear gets hotter after longer drives (or really hard driving) the left rear axle feels like it's binding and popping/clunking on left-hand turns. There's also a bit of a squeal and almost a grind from the outside edge. It just started doing that the other day after a fairly long drive around town to try to get the noise audible.
No other noises, no whining, grinding or anything under other conditions. Drives straight fine, right-hand turns fine. The rear makes zero noise on shorter drives around town.
The c-clip eliminator on the left (driver's) side leaks a decent bit too. It's not a full drip, but I can see fluid inside the barrel of the wheel.
What i've done so far:
I pulled apart the whole left side assembled, cleaned, greased, inspected the seals and tried to seal it up again hoping the leaking would stop. It still leaks.
I also thought maybe the rear was low on fluid, so I drained it (all looked fine with no metal deposits) and refilled with the recommended fluid from Strange.
Next steps:
I ordered a new rear axle seal and retaining ring from Strange, thinking maybe the axle seal is going (or is) bad and it's causing friction in the assemble. Otherwise, i'm kinda out of ideas. Rear-ends aren't something I've done a lot of work on and i'm sure I could easily just take this to the good local speed shop, but I also kind of want to fix this one myself and get some learning in. I've done everything else on this car so might as well try to see.
What else am I missing? Maybe I need to open up the rear and visually inspect the differential itself? I'd assume I would have seen more particulates in the fluid change, but again, not super knowledgable here.