front end "clink"

[djelica]

Hi Everyone,

Been a while. I recently had an axle shaft dislocate (driver side shaft inside the axle, circlip let go) and when I replaced the differential/axle shaft (thanks Graham at Coombs) I repacked the cv joints and replaced the upper and lower ball joints. I cleaned everything up and also replaced the brake pads.

For the past few years I have had an annoying "clink" sound out of the front end when going slow over small bumps. It was diagnosed as being play of the shaft ends that poke out of the wheel hubs. Since I have done a lot of front end work I would like to finally take care of this annoying sound. I have read about using shims to adjust this play, but where do you get them?

Has anyone had any success in getting rid of this clinking sound by shimming the shaft ends?

Thanks, Darren

[Big-Bird]

Does you Deli have manual hubs or the stock flange units?

I have had my hubs and front end apart several times since owning it for bearings, brakes, bushings, CV boots. There is only a small amount of play in the splined section of the stub shaft and that needs to be there. Your stub shaft should have a thin washer and spring clip at the end AND adequate grease to allow for proper movement of the spline section.

Do you have any bearing play in the front hubs? Are all he hub parts there? There is an exploded diagram of the hub assembly in our tech section that is helpful.

[djelica]

Hi Big-Bird,

The hubs are stock and all the parts are there (the inside brass "spacer", the thin washer and spring clip) and I've greased it all adequately. The wheel bearings are fine and overall the front end is in very good shape. It's just the "clink' going over small bumps that annoys me (not a big deal, but if I can do something about it I would).

Mitsu states 0.4 - 0.7 mm "drive shaft axial play" and I've measured something over 0.7 (can't remember the exact amount of play, but it is a bit outside what it's supposed to be). I'm just wondering if anyone has tried to shim the shafts and if so where did they get the shims.

Cheers, Darren

[thelazygreenfox]

Darren
Interesting problem same as I had for a while. The culprit was an inner tie rod on the drivers side. It was difficult because it didn't show being hidden under the boot.

I had changed the ITR but hadn't tightened it enough. Access is difficult but after more elbow grease the noise went away. Gotta hate DIY backyard mechanics sometimes.....
good luck
MD

[djelica]

Hey thanks MD for the suggestion.

I did check all this out when I put in the new axle and I just did another check now.

Tie rods, ends and steering rack is solid. It really is the play in the cv shaft that makes the sound. I can reach behind the wheel and give the cv shaft I quick pull and push and get it to move enough to make the sound (axial movement only, I inspected and repacked the cvs and they are in good shape). Interesting that I can only hear this sound when driving when I have the windows down.

I checked the play and it is within mitsubishi's specs (around .6 mm) so may be I won't worry about it until it's outside of their parameters.

I'll look a little more into shims in the future. What I have found so far is that they come as an assortment and are somewhat expensive so maybe split a set with someone else that needs some. Anyway after working more on my 94 L400 I'm even more impressed with the build quality of this thing. Impressive.

later, Darren

[pajerry]

Ill be watching this as I have the same noise at my Swb pajeros front end. It used to only click while climbing steep obstacles in low range, but now does it all the time going through parking lots etc.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[djelica]

OK, I had all the mud guards and bash plates off while the L400 was in for its yearly Krown treatment.

The rubber grommets on the rear most bash plate have been in pretty bad shape for a while, but I never got around to finding replacements and with all these meal plates off 90% of the front end noise is gone.

Should have thought of this long time ago and I've made some temporary grommets that should deaden any potential sound.

Later, Darren

[Growlerbearnz]

OMG I think you may have just diagnosed *my* front end noise. One of my undertrays has a split which I've noticed is always a little bit rusty, like it's moving, but I've never bothered to weld it up. I've just removed the tray and gone for a drive over a bunch of rocks, and there's no more "ping" noise.

Marvellous! Thanks for sharing!