Need Help: Drivetrain Whine, Slipping in tight turns

[bentcipher]

Thanks both for the reply... I checked the diesel sound search results... not it. I'll read it in more detail but so far the symptoms are different. The sound itself is an even whine that stays at about same pitch no matter what speed, acceleration, coasting, etc... also, this is not motor related. My gut tells me it's probably the differential but don't have enough experience to know for sure.

Oh, and it's definitely not the tires or traction related, same "whine" occurs whether I'm at 2 mph, 20mph, or 40mph... can't hear the rest due to wind noise.

As far as slipping/jumpiness in tight turns - I had this truck for about 3 years now and pretty familiar with its eccentricities and character traits, especially in tight turns, on/off pavement, good/bad tires. What I'm experiencing now is very dissimilar in a feel and sound.

Thank you both for the input.

[Solitude]

It is still an all wheel drive vehicle.... maybe your turn is a bit too tight for the speed

[bentcipher]

Well.. I think the culprit here is the front axle. For now, I'm ruling transmission and T/C out as I'm not able to establish a relationship between the symptoms and the transmission or gearing itself. The symptoms persist whether I'm in gear or coasting in neutral, forward or reverse, slow or fast, in 4lo or 2wd, etc..

I'm going to start with changing fluid both front and back and see where that takes me. Will post results as soon as I have them...

[tom4bren]

"Also, I’d like to know if this is related to the “towing” method truck driver used few weeks before the problem surfaced."

Entirely possible. I would definitely check with the company to see if they will have the VX evaluated at a garage of your choice (not theirs).

[MSHardeman]

I was actually thinking about the towing issue during my morning coffee (hey, it just popped in my head) and I wouldn't think that dragging ANY car across the asphalt would be good. It would put stress on all the gears along the drive line (transmission, transfer case, differentials) and could throw something out of whack.

[TheGanzman]

I was actually thinking about the towing issue during my morning coffee (hey, it just popped in my head) and I wouldn't think that dragging ANY car across the asphalt would be good. It would put stress on all the gears along the drive line (transmission, transfer case, differentials) and could throw something out of whack.

Agreed - kinda like throwing it in "Park" while you're still rolling 5mph...

[bentcipher]

Ehh, no go guys. I called the AAMCO shop here in town and they said it is actually a pretty common practice to drag up a vehicle on the flatbed whenever they cannot get it out of PARK. They said that it is very unlikely for it to affect anything and doesn't hurt gearing or anything else. They added that the only mechanism that could be affected, if any, is the Park mechanism within the transmission... so they said that if that doesn't work in any way (i.e. stuck in PARK, can't get into PARK, etc) then I might have something but other than that it is probably coincidental.

Now, as far as my symptoms, their rep stated that it could be just that I need to service my front axle. He said that in all wheel drive vehicles, there are "clutch disks" within the axle that compensate for wheel travel in turns as the total distance traveled by each of the front wheels is different (i.e. inside wheel travels less distance than the outside wheel in turns) and when you get low on gear oil, if it is broken down and is no longer able to properly lubricated axle components then you would get what he called "shudder" effect.

So boys and girls, I'm off to change that oil.... !