Bizzare Rear End Noise and mechanical "all thumbs bum"

[Sturmer]

here's a good one for yez.

I'm up at the tip to score some free mulch and I see the first pile is delta sierra, useless, pieces of garden hose in it!

The workers reckon there's some better stuff in another area of the tip and to follow them.

I follow the loader and bounce across some heavy ripples made by the loaders and park to inspect the mulch. It's ds again and I reckon that the suppliers only dump the gear (at the tip) they can't sell to the garden centre...

So I hop back in the BA and it makes this horrendous noise from the rear end when I move forward. Really loud clattering sort of noise and with the rough ground I can feel the vibration from the broken half shaft that gave way over the bumps...

One of the workers hears the clattering and comments on the noise that it sounds "roo-ted"...

I limp about 400m before the noise does me in and I obviously can't drive any further.I call the local towie.

While I'm waiting I gave a quick look under the car but I can't see anything obvious. (Mind you, it's a dirt road in the dump and I'm not crawling under the car in those conditions.)

To my eye there seems to be excessive camber on the LHR wheel and thats where the noise seems to be coming from.

I'm sure something gave way in the rear end. I'm positive that I'll be working on the rear end of the falcon that day, pulling it to pieces and replacing parts. I'm googling half shafts while I wait.

We load the car and hook the trailer on the tow truck and I'm whisked home in five minutes for $100.

I unhook the trailer and reverse the car off the truck and the noise changes.
It doesn't sound the same.

The towie gets me to drive back up the tilt tray a bit so he can see the undebelly.

He hollers for me to hop out and have a look.

There, wound around the tailshaft, is 1" of wire hanging out.

I jack up the car and unwind 300mm of wire out from it's location around the tail shaft. Didn't have to cut it or really pull it hard, it just fell out.

I move the car again and the noise is gone...

I had a trailer on the tow bar, so I couldn't reverse (to check the noise) and because the event happend on a dirt road after a fairly heavy bounce across the rutted area, I considered the damage was more serious than a bit of wire wound around the tailshaft.
To cap it off I was parked on wet dirt I didn't want to crawl around under the car!

And the purpose of this thread, good fellows, is to let you know that it totally, truly, honestly sounded like the rear end was falling apart.

It was only a foot of wire that I happend to pick up just at the wrong time...

I know we should check the simplest things first and I confess it DID run through my mind that it might be a bit of wire, but sometimes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I honestly think if I had backed the car up I would have realised the problem that I have never experienced previously.

[lincolnland]

Have had this happen on my ute a couple of times doing paddock work and crossing old fence lines. Worst occasion it wrapped around the diff as it was caught in 1 rim and tore the rear brake line off the diff. Pain in the azimuth. Cheers

[Sturmer]

I feel your pain.

[roKWiz]

Bummer, Last time in the quarry I hear this thump, thump coming from the back on every rotation of the wheels. Take a quick look but then it suddenly quieten down.
On leaving their gate the noise comes back louder than before, ready to pull over, I hear an all mighty bang.
Get out and there is a large rock sitting just behind the truck where it had obviously jammed intself between the duals until it had enough momentum to fling itself from between the tyres hitting the rear guard.

[Franco Cozzo]

Easy fix is the best fix!

[The Yeti]

Best bit of fun you can play on a work mate is a cable tie or two (the 450mm ones are good) around the tail shaft while they’re at smoko

Thank me later