P700 How much slop in rear final drive?

[Rat_Patrol]

I would figure it would be tight (few thou play), but I have quite a bit of slop between the ring and pinion. It is loud enough that you plainly hear gear slap from the rear end from turning on loose rocks or letting off the throttle for negative torque. Took the oil plug out, oil looked fine. It was dark outside, so I'll have to get a better look at the ring gear, but it looked new still. Oh, this is a '21 with only a few hundred miles on it, all babied giving kids rides around the property at 10-15 mph.

Dealer said they can take a look. If they deem there is an issue, they will tear it down for warranty and order parts, but my machine could be down for a few months, depending on parts availability. I have trips planned, so I'll either run it as is (have been) or just fix it myself.

 

[Admin]

 

[Rat_Patrol]

Anybody?

 

[Slackjaw]

I think it's typical.
Mine does it also.

 

[CID]

@906UP ?

 

[DG Rider]

Bevel cut gears. More play then typical automotive diff and very noisy. Probably nothing wrong. The rear on these sounds like a box of rocks.

 

[03mossy]

Bevel cut gears. More play then typical automotive diff and very noisy. Probably nothing wrong. The rear on these sounds like a box of rocks.

It just takes some getting used to. After 2,000 miles on mine I still find it annoying at times but it usually doesn’t bother me.

 

[DG Rider]

It just takes some getting used to. After 2,000 miles on mine I still find it annoying at times but it usually doesn’t bother me.

Same hear (get it!). A quieter diff would be a big improvement for cab noise, though.

 

[Rat_Patrol]

Thanks for the replies, since the ring gear looked OK it is probably normal. Yeah, a quieter rear would sure be nice!

 

[906UP]

@906UP ?

Yes, it's normal. The gears Honda uses for the diffs, front & rear are straight cut, hobbed green then hardened. There is no finish machining on the gear teeth. This is a cheap way of manufacturing gears, while very strong they require a lot more clearance (backlash) than a ground set of gears. The exception is the rear gears on the Talon, they are spiral bevels that are ground after heat treat and can run much tighter clearances.

FWIW... when I was with GM in the mid 90's we customers complain of a clunk from reverse to drive on the Silverado, we sat down and added up all the clearances from the engine crankshaft to the wheel.... it was over an inch.