Noisy 3rd Member

[badazz81z28]

Ladies/Gents, So I think I have an old post around here somewhere, but I'm still pondering on the noisy 9" in my 70 Camaro with the DSE quadra link ( I need a way forward!). I have been talking back and forth with Brian at Moser on and off for at least 2 years! He keeps insisting the noise is pinion angle, but I checked it and I even had it professionally checked and told it was fine. If you look at my driveshaft, the pinion yoke and the transmission yoke, it looks perfect by the eye (so its not egregious). I have seen some bad angles....Being where I am, I'm thinking the 3rd member is just built wrong or the gears they used suck. I have no performance issues...just this cruising gear noise. As a refresher....
Coasting in Neutral: No Noise
Coating in Gear: No Noise
Med to heavy accel: No Noise
Cruising all gears all speeds/light throttle to maintain cruising speed: Noise. Louder with speed and higher gears.
Very annoying trying to cruise down the freeway!!! DO I just have the chunk rebuilt? Moser wants to point the finger at everything but the 3rd member.

Moser 3rd member/3.90 gears/Tru-track

[andrewb70]

It is a known fact that every aftermarket gear makes noise. Some are noisier than others, but they all make noise.

Driveline angles have nothing to do with noise. Improper angles will cause vibration and other issues, but not hear noise.

This is another reason why many prefer the Ford 8.8" rear. Ford still makes OEM gears for it and those will be quiet. OEM heat treatment is superior to anything that the aftermarket does.

Andrew

[oleyeller]

Nine inch noise seems to be a controversial issue. I have been told: All 9" rears with aftermarket gears make noise. Only Ford OE gears run quiet. You have to buy NASCAR polished gears to get quiet ones. All gears are now made in China and none of them are any good. You have to buy the really expensive gears to get quiet ones......
I found a place called Johns Industries http://www.johnsindustries.com They seem to be able to build a differential that is quiet, at least they say they can. Helical gears should not make noise if properly set up, in my opinion. I was looking at a thread the other day and somebody was showing off a new Currie 9" rear and the gear pattern was showing in the picture, the pattern was way off to the bottom of the teeth. I trust Moser and Strange and Currie to set up a rear end that will work. But they may not be "perfect". I bought a Moser 12 bolt and the Instructions said the gears would be noisy, and they were, but not that bad. Maybe it is the quality of aftermarket parts....I got a nine inch off Craigslist here in town, built by a rear end shop here, it's horribly noisy, then I found out what kind of quality work they do, HORRIBLE business. I am going to pull the pumpkin and look at the pattern to see how far off it is. If it looks good, I have a set of Ford OE gears I may try. I built lots of rear ends that didn't make noise, but they were all GM. We ran 9" in drag cars, and I guess never heard the noise. Jury is still out in this debate. But I do know there are a lot of engineering experts on the internet.

[Alponcho]

Can you pm me the name of the business who built your 9"? I'm in the Phoenix area and need some work done. I've already made an expensive mistake with one diff shop here in town and want to avoid another.

[andrewb70]

Just to add, the 4.33 OEM gears in my Cougar are whisper quiet.

Andrew

[lobudget]

Nine inch noise seems to be a controversial issue. I have been told: All 9" rears with aftermarket gears make noise. Only Ford OE gears run quiet. You have to buy NASCAR polished gears to get quiet ones. All gears are now made in China and none of them are any good. You have to buy the really expensive gears to get quiet ones......
I found a place called Johns Industries http://www.johnsindustries.com They seem to be able to build a differential that is quiet, at least they say they can. Helical gears should not make noise if properly set up, in my opinion. I was looking at a thread the other day and somebody was showing off a new Currie 9" rear and the gear pattern was showing in the picture, the pattern was way off to the bottom of the teeth. I trust Moser and Strange and Currie to set up a rear end that will work. But they may not be "perfect". I bought a Moser 12 bolt and the Instructions said the gears would be noisy, and they were, but not that bad. Maybe it is the quality of aftermarket parts....I got a nine inch off Craigslist here in town, built by a rear end shop here, it's horribly noisy, then I found out what kind of quality work they do, HORRIBLE business. I am going to pull the pumpkin and look at the pattern to see how far off it is. If it looks good, I have a set of Ford OE gears I may try. I built lots of rear ends that didn't make noise, but they were all GM. We ran 9" in drag cars, and I guess never heard the noise. Jury is still out in this debate. But I do know there are a lot of engineering experts on the internet.

FWIW I have one set up from Johns but have not driven it yet. Friends who have dealt with them more speak highly of them.

[icemanrd19]

4 units from dse with Ford 9” all with different ratios all made noise.

Mine under acceleration. Replaced the gears and now it’s much quieter but slight noise under cruising deceleration. Quiet as can be with acceleration now. My buddies also sounds just like mine after getting his redone. Again 90% better. My other buddy has his redone as well and his is silent at all times.

After getting them all redone they make 90% less noise with one being 100% fixed.

[badazz81z28]

Can you pm me the name of the business who built your 9"? I'm in the Phoenix area and need some work done. I've already made an expensive mistake with one diff shop here in town and want to avoid another.

Moser

[carbuff]

I had the gears in my car current REM polished. I then had the unit assembled by a local shop (heavy duty truck company mostly, not performance gears). They have been much quieter than the original setup I got from Strange when I purchased it. Not that the original was bad, but it was noticeable at times. If I recall correctly, it was about $150 or so to have the gears polished, and I feel it was worthwhile...

[parsonsj]

I've not ever heard an aftermarket gear set as quiet as OEM. I know there are folks who claim they or people they know can make a quiet setup with Strange or Moser or Yukon or Richmond gears, but I've yet to hear such a thing myself.

My experience has been that if you want a quiet rear end: use an OEM ring and pinion. And that's hard to find in the 9" Ford world since Ford hasn't made 9" gears in decades... As Andrew mentioned, the 8.8 is a good way to go since you can still buy new Ford gears for it.

[btmatt]

I just finished my first road trip a few weeks back and wanted to gouge my ears out with the same noise you described above (ford 9", 3.50 factory gears, chassisworks g-link). I just pulled the diff this weekend and my back lash setting was waaay off which I believe contributed to low load resonance. I hope to have it back on the road soon after an exhaust re-route (another reason the car is nearly undrivable at highway speed) and i will report back.

[BBPanel]

Do all Ford oem gears have the Ford logo on them? I have a set of 2.69 gears with the logo.

[blitzer454]

I had a set of 3.55 gears in my brand new Moser rear-end that made noise at speed when I let off the gas. One of the forum members here told me about a guy named Ernie here in the Dallas area that has a reputation for knowing how to dial in these rear-ends. So I pulled my third member and took it to him and sure enough he fixed the problem. He replaced the gears and the pinion bearing. He found the lash was out of spec and I forgot exactly what he said was wrong with the pinion bearing but it was something like not being installed correctly causing the pinion to sit at a bad angle. Needless to say my opinion of Moser is pretty low. It's not like I brought a used rear-end, this was brand new housing and third member. You would think that a company that specializes in rear-ends would know how to set them up before they ship them but that's apparently not the case. I won't be using them again.

[badazz81z28]

What should I do?

[andrewb70]

I hear Motive Gear tends to be the best for low noise. The word is that some of their gears are made in Korea and some in Italy. The Italian gears are said to be quieter. Problem is, you'll never know what you'll get. I have 3.42 Motive gears in my 12 bolt in my GTO. They are mostly quiet, but not totally silent.

Andrew

[130fe]

I feel your aggravation. Investing all of that $ into something that makes noise, my noises are similar. Strongly considering going to an 8.8.

[icemanrd19]

I had a set of 3.55 gears in my brand new Moser rear-end that made noise at speed when I let off the gas. One of the forum members here told me about a guy named Ernie here in the Dallas area that has a reputation for knowing how to dial in these rear-ends. So I pulled my third member and took it to him and sure enough he fixed the problem. He replaced the gears and the pinion bearing. He found the lash was out of spec and I forgot exactly what he said was wrong with the pinion bearing but it was something like not being installed correctly causing the pinion to sit at a bad angle. Needless to say my opinion of Moser is pretty low. It's not like I brought a used rear-end, this was brand new housing and third member. You would think that a company that specializes in rear-ends would know how to set them up before they ship them but that's apparently not the case. I won't be using them again.

That what this guy lol