Noisy G56

[Andersonville]

I had the clutch replaced back in August in Tucson. Since then,when I shift 5 & 6th gear there is a "slap" just after I release the clutch. No jerking or thumping but enough of a "slap" that it's noticeable. New clutch and throwout and fork were installed. SBC flywheel was resurfaced and reused. Replacement clutch was a "HD" from Checkers. "Lifetime guarantee" and I didn't have the money to replace it with an SBC then. 427k on the truck. G56 trans. Thanks for the replies. Grady

 

[HBarlow]

Grady,

Wow, 427k. You must still be pulling RVs.

I'm not clear. Have you changed your flywheel and clutch assembly to a solid flywheel and conventional clutch to get rid of the dual mass flywheel/clutch assembly?

 

[CKelley1]

i never thought any one could get that many miles out of a dual mass flywheel. when you replace it with a good solid flywheel the slack will go away. the oem one was frozen up is why you did not feel it. south bend makes the best kit. the g56 transmits noise more than other transmissions and the dmf did reduce the noise so when you change to the sb do not think you have a new problem

 

[Andersonville]

Ooops. I should have mentioned that the DMF went out at 104k and was replaced with an SBC Con Ofe unit. The throwout bearing went out in August. While the trans was out I had the clutch replaced with a "HD" unit from Checkers (life time warranty?) I didn't have the money at the time to replace the clutch with an SBC unit. The SBC unit still had some time left but the mechanic wanted to put in a new clutch since it was apart. The slapping noise has been there since the new clutch was installed. I saved about $500 by not getting it done at Dodge but it's probably gonna cost me more to make it right.

I am still delivering RV's Harvey and NOT making enough money. Our rates have been cut by 40% as there are too many haulers and not enough RV's.

The SBC flywheel was resurfaced and reused and the shift fork was replaced. I am still using the HD hydraulic from SBC and when I get more money I will reinstall an SBC unit or
get a new HD clutch every year from Checkers. I am not sure yet. I KNOW ONE THING HOWEVER: I will DEFINITELY TRY TO AVOID BREAKING DOWN IN TUCSON IN AUGUST EVER AGAIN!!! Luckily my friend there has a big workshop for his 18 whlr and we were lucky to have the shade but still 110 degrees about every day.

 

[HBarlow]

I figured the RV transportation industry was not the place to be any longer. Horizon Transport sent me a letter about three months ago asking me to come back. In truth I miss the "adventure" but decided against it.

I've heard of those auto parts store lifetime guaranteed parts but, being skeptical, I assumed labor was not included so a warranted cheap part that fails annually would not be much of a bargain.

Best wishes, Grady. You're going to need good luck and good breaks on loads to survive a cold, slow winter on icy roads. I shudder to remember some of those trips I made across I-80 on snow and ice with a long conventional trailer behind me catching the wind and pulling the back of my truck out of line.

 

[Grizzly]

Andersonville, with 427K on the clock, how's the engine and the rest of the truck holding out? What type and brand of oil do you use? Since you deleted the JakeBrake, what E brake are you using?

 

[Andersonville]

I use Rotella 5w40 synthetic and Stratapore filters. Engine is good so far. Replaced 2 crank seals,3 belt tensioners ,new fan pulley bearing,idler pulley bearing,new fan clutch and new steering rack. Front rotors,rear rotors and brake pads. I had an ATS exhaust manifold and straight thru muffler put on when got it set up to pull RV's.
If I could start all over, I would have got the big underneath tanks instead of the 115 gal tank in the bed and I would have bought a Truck camper to sleep in! I don't sleep good in the trailers and I'm too big to sleep in my truck (6'4",230lbs) I spend most of my profit on Motel 6!
I've pulled 40' park models across there Harvey. Some days it's just too windy/slick and I stay in the motel 6. If I could find another job I would take it. I've called 7 trucking companies since I've been home and not one has returned my calls. But I don't really want to drive anymore anyway. Slim pickens here in ETN. I'm 55 and 14 years OTR is catching up with me.
I'm not using an E brake at present. I use the trailer brakes as much as I can when I have to descend big hills. I'm trying to save up for a Pacbrake but every time I get ahead a little bit something else takes the money. I forgot alternator and AC compressor and AC hose that wore a hole against the bottom of the air cleaner.
PS AGAIN: I have used fuel treatment in almost every tank of fuel. PS,Stanadyne,Howes,FPPF,I always use fuel treatment and I have a 2 micron CAT fuel filter between my 115 gal tank in the bed and the truck tank. ALMOST ALL the fuel is filtered thru the CAT filter before it goes into my little tank. I tried the used motor oil in the fuel once. It plugged up my CAT filter ($18 apiece and I usually get 6-9 months out of them)

Harvey: Most of our freight is going to Canada now. -42 degrees in Manitoba last Jan,-52 in La Crete AB the winter before that! OUCH

 

[HBarlow]

Grady,

I understand your predicament. You've got to do what it takes to survive.

I talked on the phone yesterday with an old friend from 30 years ago. He lives in Parumph, NV and pulls for Bennett Transport, has for ten or more years. He put a million miles on a '95 Ram and now has almost 1/2 million on an '04. He read off the list of destination choices for his next load out of Pendleton, OR. All up in AB, Canada. I've delivered to all the cities he mentioned but not in the snow. I stayed south of the US/CN border as much as possible in the winter. He said he pulled one to Dawson Creek a week ago and got there a day after a one foot snow fall.

When I quit transporting two years ago I was addicted to the road and hated to give it up. I toyed with the idea of trying driving real trucks. I filled out a simple online application on a trucking industry website and still get recruiting e-mails from Schneider once every two or three months. I read them and stay home. I did a little research and learned that Schneider has lots of trucks and lots of drivers but it not highly respected among real drivers in the industry.

It's a tough time in America and getting worse every day. My wife says they announced an entry level admin asst. job at TTU last week and have 40+ applicants, many of whom were laid off from better-paying jobs. And West Texas is not heavily influenced by the national economy. We don't have the boom cycles here but also do not have the bust cycles.

Good luck to you. If you're ever passing through the area around Lubbock pm me and I'll send you my cell number. I'll buy you a meal.

 

[Andersonville]

Thanks Harvey. Good luck and happy Holidays to you and yours.

 

[Andersonville]

UPDATE: My G56 locked up on me at Lexington NE. Now I am sitting in Kearney NE waiting for a used (50k) G56 to be installed. Hopefully I will be back on the road tomorrow. I have been here since Monday. The bearing between the 3&4 and the 5&6th gear sets disintegrated leaving the trans locked in 6th gear. I had to beat on the shifter to get it into neutral and then it wouldn't go back into gear at all. I hope everyone else's Christmas is going better than mine.

 

[Andersonville]

$5000 for used trans mission and new clutch and now it is getting noisy again!

 

[CKESSEL]

You may be getting the same type of noise as my 04. 5 w/nv5600 is getting since I put in the ZOOM ZVT unit. The hub on the disc is a different design and it transfers more gear noise now. It does not affect the trans life. There was a TSB awhile back on the 2nd and 3rg gens with gear noise originating from the disc. The fix was to put in a different design which quieted it down. Find out if the a-zone unit is the noisy one. There might have been a paper explaining this in the parts box.