Drive unit gear lash?

[nfrank]

I’ve always heard some creaking coming from the front end of my R1T. I thought it was the air suspension. Got a flat the other day and was putting on the spare when I noticed the sound and what felt like significant gear lash. Is this normal. Attached is the video of me spinning the front passenger wheel by hand while it’s jacked up

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[R1Tom]

Mine does same thing, but not sure what actually is making that noise.

 

[Prime]

I’m not a mechanic, but that doesnt sound good.

 

[nfrank]

I’m not sure if damage is happening to the gearbox. If this is normal it would save me two hours of driving round trip to the service center.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I'll take a video of all the corners on mine when I swap wheels in a couple days, assuming they are doing this. I feel quite a bit of lash in the pedal when jumping between light regen and light acceleration.

 

[NY_Rob]

I would jack up the rear end of the truck and see if those wheels make the same sound when rocking them back and forth.

 

[TheIglu]

That's normal. If you crawl under and hold the driveshaft at various places while someone rocks your wheel back and forth, you'll find the play is on the inside CV joint/slip coupling on your axles. Not your gearbox, the play doesn't make it all the way into the gearbox.

Someone posted a cutaway of the style axle our trucks use that have ball bearings in the slider portion of the axle. That would explain all of this movement/sound.

I had my front drive unit and axles replaced already for a loud knock/tock on decel/accel. This isn't that sound.

 

[brancky3]

Can you hear this 'lash' when hitting uneven road / etc? Or only when changing wheel directions or rocking the car via accelerator?

 

[Frisbie]

My R1T was absolutely silent until 2,000 miles. Then it developed “gear lash.” Had it in the service center twice, same repair, lube the half shafts and splines, replace and tighten bolts. Will pick it up tomorrow. I would be surprised if the problem has been fixed but hope springs eternal.

 

[Ngkgb]

I have exact same noise and have since I licked up truck 1 mo ago. Taking to service center Saturday. I’ll lost with an update.

 

[DaveA]

I’ve always heard some creaking coming from the front end of my R1T. I thought it was the air suspension. Got a flat the other day and was putting on the spare when I noticed the sound and what felt like significant gear lash. Is this normal. Attached is the video of me spinning the front passenger wheel by hand while it’s jacked up

Within spec! Mine does same thing on driver's side....have a ticket in....they want a video...as if they've never heard of this problem before. The passenger side front shaft can make a small amount of noise, but driver's side is definitely looser.

 

[Ngkgb]

We should all send this video.

 

[DaveA]

My R1T was absolutely silent until 2,000 miles. Then it developed “gear lash.” Had it in the service center twice, same repair, lube the half shafts and splines, replace and tighten bolts. Will pick it up tomorrow. I would be surprised if the problem has been fixed but hope springs eternal.

Well, with an 8 year warranty....they should be getting tired of this repair and hopefully redesign the offending parts.

 

[RYU]

I had this on Day 1. I think it's slightly more pronounced in FWD mode. I've had worse on my Land Rover. I'm not going to worry about it until it becomes an issue.

I believe it's coming from the CV axles. I don't believe the two motors at either ends of the car have a physical connection.

With the amount of torque this truck produces and the complexity of the suspension I think a little noise is par for the course.

Maybe i'm just an earmuffs kinda guy! haha

 

[nfrank]

I should have posted a follow up:

12/19/22 - Service appointment. They take off the bolted connection from the hub to the shaft and grease it. Sound is gone!

1/5/23 - Sound is back! created a new service ticket. Advisor said this is a common problem and grease only fixes it some of the time

1/23/23 - Service appointment is scheduled. Replacing both front half-shafts. Should be done in half a day.

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