Wow no kidding! ...so it's probable to suspect this IIRC Axle nut to be the cause of the ticking noise i've been hearing? I will def. check that out asap. Thanks for everyone's input btw

One more thing... how bad would it be to stick the original cotter pin back in? Or is that kind of a common sense thing depending on how bad the condition when taken off....?

 

He put the original back in mine I hope it is O.K. I will buy a new one and put that in if he adjusts it again (thanks for the info Timzcat). Timzcat is also right because the mechanic used an air wrench with massive amounts of torque. I would suggest letting someone with the proper tools do this as I don't think you can do it by hand. Hope this works
Stay safe,
Punisher

 

I had that problem...It was my BOV hitting my fan.

 

Alright so i took the wheel off and checked the axle nut. I put the tq wrench up to it and it was pretty solid at 115ish ft-lb already. So I cranked on it just to make sure and put the wheel back on. Not to my surprise it still makes the noise...

 

oh check your drive shaft... my friends drive shaft came out... and made that noise...

 

I had the same noise, but it was actually my trasfer case. This happens to be the case on 2003. it started with a "click" or light "thump" every once in a while, until it started doing it more constantly. Always from a stop and at low speeds. The noise comes from underneath the engine, an d you can tell that it's not the brakes, silenoid, lifters, etc. I had mine replace and by Nick at Precision Dyno and the car is like new. you might want to look in to it. I thought it was something little at first and it was actually the transfer case. By the way it wasn't beating or abusing the car. It's something that the 2003's (at least) suffer from. Hope that helps.

To check it out put the cat on a lift, hold a tire with one hand and turn the driveshaft with the other. If you have too much play in the shaft, then more than likely it is one of the differential bearings in the trasfercase. I beleive it should only have 6-9 mm play for backlash. I could be wrong. Maybe someone else that has gone thru this can share more info....