thanks all! got it all figured out. It didn't click that i had it wired in a series with the 2 A:B setup... I put them on 2:4 and i have auto leveling perfection finally! 
so happy since i'd just done a bunch of motor swaps and new plum connectors for the z rods so it was super easy to get level after fixing this!
Hopefully i'm not distracting from main discussion, but i'm having similar issue with .9 degree steppers on a HEVO with titan aero direct drive.
I recently bumped my X/Y steppers to 85% max rating and my printer is crazy noisy now, but my VFA has really gone down.
To verify i'm not just seeing crap, i'm going to run a test again right now with high rating and lower and see if it proves it out... changed so many settings i'm not even sure anymore.
curious if running at 100mm/s keeps the motors out of quiet mode and changes how they algorithm works - as that may explain why super high power ratings may do something similar.
Just to update, i swapped out cooling ducts - what a huge difference. I also tossed out this white PLA and used another brand and its now printing perfectly. I had to print the old white much hotter than i thought necessary to avoid jams but in doing so it stressed out a bad cooler. fixed both and happy now
Found out my problem. I noticed one side of my printer was always sagging towards end of print, ran motor unlock and i could rotate left z and feel steps, but right z just spun - i guess my right z motor had failed.
Replaced my right z motor, and now bltouch is happy and i don't have to run g29 between each print... kind of surprised i got the quality i did with that motor having been bad or faulty for so long...
but, i'm back in business... no more crazy drift, nice level bed and great prints again. took the time to move to reprap3 firmware and enjoy it too!
Got my Hypercube Evolution running RRF 3.0RC1 with bltouch, dual z leveling (g29) and so far so good!
took a bit to translate my config over, but i really appreciate the text labels now that i'm seeing them in gcode!
It's a true BLtouch, not a clone. If I cold power on, the pin doesn't drop. If I turn off, pull the pin and then power back on the pin drops/resets (hear it click). It's so weird.
I'll double-check all the wiring. Once it's working after pulling it down and power cycling, it seems to work even on a 20 point bed level.
Just to update, i swapped out cooling ducts - what a huge difference. I also tossed out this white PLA and used another brand and its now printing perfectly. I had to print the old white much hotter than i thought necessary to avoid jams but in doing so it stressed out a bad cooler. fixed both and happy now
Is there something I'm missing in firmware or is the BLtouch crapping out? I have to pull the pin down & reset power and then on next power on I hear it click and test itself.
If I forget and home, homing actually does start even though the probe didn't drop.
I noticed in firmware 3 on duet wifi that if I do a G28 in my gcode start (inside slicer), stall detection doesn't work well and my belts slip as print head rams homing to X 0. If I run homeall.g everything works fine and is less violent.
So I updated the start gcode with setting motors to 50% power (which is what I do in homeall) and the G28 there is fine - not ramming or belt slipping.
It didn't use to do this, but I can't isolate when it started... /shrug heh
I checked cura, its set to be 100% fan on layer 2 - but it doesn't seem to be doing that. I'm going to try another benchy now in cura and see if i hear the fan at 100% or see if it gets louder progressively..
i guess i could just also read the gcode and see what the fan is set to as well heh. off to try that too
Prusa slicer isn't anywhere near as pronounced with defects.
Trying another with lower temps to see if it is too hot
I've printed test cubes and they look fine.. printing a tall 20x20x400mm tower in vase mode right now to eliminate screw problems
here is a less pronounced one - (printing at finer resolution)
I have this same issue in Cura with benchy...
this one is more pronounced than others i did, but the top part prints beautifully.