What is this??

[T_love]

As some might already know, my car was making this loud scratching noise from the rear whenever its warm outside and i've been driving for a little while. I had pinpointed it to the differential area.

So, today it started doing it while i was a good thirty minutes away from home. About half way there i started getting pissed off so i just ignored it and stopped babying the car and just drove normal. When i took off from one of the lights, something suddenly popped and i heard something fall on the ground. I immediately took the car out of gear and stopped. I found this piece of metal ( see attachment) on the ground. When it popped off it sounded almost like my diff had exploded or something.

Anyway, i wasn't far from home so i figured i'd baby it to the parking lot. Guess what, the scratching noise was suddenly completely gone. Not even a beep. I did notice a noise like something was hitting when i backed into the parking lot.

After all that, my real question is what is this piece of metal. it looks like some sort of clip. I couldn't find it in the Chilton's manual or the FAST parts program. I just hope its not something i really need because if it isn't, i certainly won't miss it. I can post a couple more pics of it if necessary but they are about the same quality

[T_love]

another one

[T_love]

one more

[krayton]

same thing happened to me. well mine didnt fall off.

the grinding noise (i actually thought it was my transmission) turns out to be your ebrake cables. there a ***** to get too. crawl under and youll see scratches on your driveshaft. the ebrake cables will prob be all banged up. i caught mine before it got that bad. had to jam them back up and smash them with a screwdriver.

was waiting for someone to have the same problem. if u can, just ziptie them or something out of the way. gonna make a hard squeeze with the driveshaft bolted up. if you can, just unbolt it. will make it a lot easier

edit: forgot, but that piece is what holds the ebrake cables up. those 2 flaps are suppose to be higher. thats what was grinding on the driveshaft

[T_love]

The noise seems to have gone away for some odd reason. That clip, is that supposed to be holding the e-brake?

[krayton]

yeah, crawl under and see. the ebrake cables will be dangling. the noise stopped cause its just the rubber lines hitting the driveshaft now.

notice the scratches? thats your noise. go ahead and look. youll see the scratches on your driveshaft

[T_love]

Thanks Krayton, I'll check it out and see what i can do with the lines

[cvc9216]

I had the same problem. You only have a short time of silence before it wears away the casing and starts eating up the cables. Unfotunately it happened to me while I was 2 hours away from home and mine got completely destroyed. I got some new ones and zip-tied the hell out of them and also replaced all the subframe and differential bushings with solid bushings and it seems to be fine now.

[krayton]

ditto. mine was happening when i gunned it and my car squatted.

i also upgrade my driveshaft ends with hot rod ones that were larger. coilovers and subframe bushings took my squat away.

[T_love]

Is this caused by the custom driveshafts or is it something that jujst eventually happens in these cars

[krayton]

i would venture to guess just on the custom driveshafts. really havent heard any one else with stock ones having this problem

[T_love]

What did you zip-tie them to. The clip thing completely fell off and i can't get it back in. When i looked at them, it didn;t seem like the lines were rubbing on the driveshaft. I could see where that clip was rubbing against the drriveshaft. The brake lines still have another pair of smaller clips holding them.

Did you guys zip-tie them to each other or something else?

[krayton]

my clip was still up there, so i pushed the clips out of the way and ziptied them to that.

i guess if they look ok, then your in the clear. just keep a tab on them.

[T_love]

Thanks guys, i'll definitely check on them every day