sightseer 35j Noise at the rear Differential

[Ndr632]

Hi Everyone
I bought a sightseer 35j and I have a high pitch noise starting at 30 mph and up. But if I let off and coast the noise goes away. Any suggestions?

[thompwil]

How many miles are on it? Can you tell if the noise is coming from the rear of the coach or front? EDIT: OK I just read the rear of the coach in the title, oops. Regardless I'd start with the easy stuff first.

Check all the universal joints for play by grabbing the drive shaft at each joint and try moving the shaft up & down, left to right. There should be no lateral play, no movement or clunking.

Check the gear lube level in the rear differential. If it's low that could cause a problem. I personally would drop the diff cover and inspect the gears for wear or damage. Also a good time to replace the lube if there's a lot of miles on it.

A starting point at least.

[Ndr632]

The couch has 11000 miles on it . I have no up and down movement and around 1” of play rotation side to side. I will have to pull the diff out to check the gears this rear end is model “S110” no cover. I did drain the oil no metal in it. I will fill it today if I can and see if that was the problem. Fingers crossed!

[thompwil]

If you had an endoscope maybe you could look inside the diff while it's empty. There's one on Woot today for 30 bucks.

https://electronics.woot.com/offers/...et_elec_dly_tl

[Ndr632]

Thanks for the info I got the same one on amazon prime for $30.59 it will arrive tomorrow.

[Ndr632]

Hi Thompwil,
So I check out the diff and the wear looks to be off a little. I did Notice that the swaybar bushings are almost looking melted and half gone also after driving it for 5 miles the pinion area was hot to the touch.Wondering if the pinion is under shimmed. And that is the noise I am getting. There is more wear on the inside of the ring gear about a 1/8” to 1/4” that is not wore. Hard to tell in the camera on the thickness that’s not touching the pinion.

[thompwil]

Howdy,
Wow, that doesn’t sound good. I wonder how hot it has been getting. Wonder if the sway bar bushings melted from excessive heat being generated,, in only 11,000 miles? That wouldn’t be good for the seals either. Could be a shim problem causing them to run tight if the inside is worn more than the outside. Sadly it looks like a disassembly may be in order. Perhaps take it to a truck shop for an assessment? That is disappointing for such low miles. Heck our 2018 has just under 20K on it already.

[Adven2011w24]

Check the nut that holds the Pinion to the universal carrier, I have seen that come loose.