I made my own chassis ear to pinpoint a noise from my Acura MDX (I know, it's not my FJ, but the application is universal, and I will use it on my FJ if the need arises). The purpose is to locate noises that can't be replicated in the garage, ie while moving or under load, (it's not meant tell you that your cv, bearing, etc is bad, it's meant to tell you which one is bad)
My problem is a chirping noise that is rotational, as it's affected by speed, (doesn't start until 25-30mph+ and speeds up frequency with speed), it's not affected by braking or coasting in neutral. I can't tell which corner it's coming from since it's full time AWD, and unfortunately, neither can the dealership, though they did confirm hearing it (this was an unpleasant day to say the least).
Not knowing if I could make it work, I spent as little money as possible. Knowing it works, it could be improved with a wireless, Bluetooth option, or alligator clamp microphones, better software, etc.
I was trying to replicate this but for less money
Bottom-line pricing on Steelman 6600 at ToolTopia.com
Can be done for as little as $10.50 if you have a laptop already and my version records and allows you to apply filters to pinpoint noises, but I'm not sure how to listen to live feed and switch microphones easily without adding an external 4 way selector switch like this one
4 PORT 3.5mm STEREO Manual Sharing Switch AUX Audio Speaker selector way 4:1 | eBay
Parts List
- Laptop w/ 4 USB ports
(I tried it on 2 Dell Laptops with integrated sound cards, one was Conexant, the other was IDT, one had windows 10, the other was windows vista, stereo mix not enabled on either, no problems. This writeup was done using Vista and IDT HD audio, but the same basic process applies to all Windows with differences being the sound card )
- (4) USB sound cards
(got these on ebay, went with ones with short cord so I can plug them all in at once since my usb ports are real close together)
PC Desktop USB 2.0 3D Virtual Channel Audio Sound Card Adapter For Windows 7 XC | eBay
- (4) 3.5mm Lapel Microphones
HO scale Atlas Trainman flat car, 20 000 709, TTX 81133 | eBay
- (4) 3.5mm Male to Female extension cord (10ft)
10ft 3M 3.5mm Female to Male F/M Headphone Stereo Audio Extension Cable Cord exp | eBay
- Headphones
(any will do, I used ear buds)
- Masking Tape
Software
All software is free (but beware, I didn't write it, download at your own risk)
Audacity (I used it to compare, filter recordings. I have zero prior experience with this software, so I don't know how to use it that well, but will describe how I used it. More computer savvy people might know better)
Audacity®
Alis Recording Tool (used to record from 4 microphones to separate tracks simultaneously)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/alis/
My problem is a chirping noise that is rotational, as it's affected by speed, (doesn't start until 25-30mph+ and speeds up frequency with speed), it's not affected by braking or coasting in neutral. I can't tell which corner it's coming from since it's full time AWD, and unfortunately, neither can the dealership, though they did confirm hearing it (this was an unpleasant day to say the least).
Not knowing if I could make it work, I spent as little money as possible. Knowing it works, it could be improved with a wireless, Bluetooth option, or alligator clamp microphones, better software, etc.
I was trying to replicate this but for less money
Bottom-line pricing on Steelman 6600 at ToolTopia.com
Can be done for as little as $10.50 if you have a laptop already and my version records and allows you to apply filters to pinpoint noises, but I'm not sure how to listen to live feed and switch microphones easily without adding an external 4 way selector switch like this one
4 PORT 3.5mm STEREO Manual Sharing Switch AUX Audio Speaker selector way 4:1 | eBay
Parts List
- Laptop w/ 4 USB ports
(I tried it on 2 Dell Laptops with integrated sound cards, one was Conexant, the other was IDT, one had windows 10, the other was windows vista, stereo mix not enabled on either, no problems. This writeup was done using Vista and IDT HD audio, but the same basic process applies to all Windows with differences being the sound card )
- (4) USB sound cards
(got these on ebay, went with ones with short cord so I can plug them all in at once since my usb ports are real close together)
PC Desktop USB 2.0 3D Virtual Channel Audio Sound Card Adapter For Windows 7 XC | eBay
- (4) 3.5mm Lapel Microphones
HO scale Atlas Trainman flat car, 20 000 709, TTX 81133 | eBay
- (4) 3.5mm Male to Female extension cord (10ft)
10ft 3M 3.5mm Female to Male F/M Headphone Stereo Audio Extension Cable Cord exp | eBay
- Headphones
(any will do, I used ear buds)
- Masking Tape
Software
All software is free (but beware, I didn't write it, download at your own risk)
Audacity (I used it to compare, filter recordings. I have zero prior experience with this software, so I don't know how to use it that well, but will describe how I used it. More computer savvy people might know better)
Audacity®
Alis Recording Tool (used to record from 4 microphones to separate tracks simultaneously)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/alis/