Rear End noise.

[Whosondephone]

I estimate around late December last year I punched the gas coming out of my condo enterence. I don't recall if I floored it or not but it was a sharp stab. I noticed immediately it sounded like the wheel bad wheel bearings on my wife's Nissan Morono. If you didn't know the car you could easily say it's road noise. But I knew better...

I took it to my wife's mechanic. They didn't seem interested in working on it at all. They told me "That's opening up a whole can of worms." "I can barely hear it". "It's just starting, you still have time" I couldn't realty afford to have them fix it anyway so I followed their advice. I am mostly concerned about contaminating the gear oil.

Inspecting it in person today I couldn't localize where the sound was coming from. I was starting to worry the whole rear end was shot. But after listening to the video I made, with headphones, It almost certainly sounds like the driver side wheel bearing.

I'm looking into swapping out the axles and bearing now and would always appreciate any advice on parts and especially on cleaning the debres. I noticed someone on the Crown Vic forum mentioned getting to 150,000 miles with the Doorman axle. I like hearing that because it's cheep and appears to have the lug bolts pressed into it already. I don't have a lot of tools or bench vice theses days. Rock Auto dosn't have customer service to confirm whether the bolts are pressed in or not. I have a Carquest Nappa Advanced and Autozone near me. I haven't been thrilled with any of them. I'm kind of leaning twords Carquest.

Thanks for all the support you've given over the years.

[gadget73]

You can just pull the axle to inspect it. That will likely tell you if there is a problem or not, or at least tell you if you need to replace the axle. I think there were problems with the axles around 03-04 though. If the area where the bearing runs is smooth and shows no signs of pitting or wear, stab a bearing in there and put the axle back in. The slide hammer to get the bearing out is really the only special tool required here. The rest are just common sockets to pull the diff cover and to pull the pin out of the carrier. Might want a magnet on a stick to fish the C clip out.

One thing I will specifically mention, once you pull the pin out of the carrier, do not rotate the axles. It will try to walk the side gears out and then you get to put all that back together. Shove it straight in to get the C clip out, then straight out.


if the oil is full of glitter cleaning it is mostly a matter of mopping out the old oil with a rag. If you need to clean out the axle tubes make yourself a barrel brush from a stick and a rag and just run it through from the outside to push the oil in to the center. Its disgusting and stinky so wear gloves. if you end up doing bearings on both sides its easier to do this with the bearing removed. I would inspect both sides while its apart.

[DerekTheGreat]

If you think it's eating itself and producing metal shavings, slap a really strong magnet on the diff cover. That'll buy you enough time to find a donor axle and slap that in there. That's what I'd do, as I'm too lazy to inspect bearings and all that in addition to the issues gadget pointed out. Plus, if you've got one of those 3.08 open diff units, you can put a positive spin on things by upgrading to a 3.55 Trac-Lok unit with discs from one of them roundy early 90's Panthers. I think those are direct swaps... Or narrow your search to the box specific 3.55 unit. EDIT: I see you've got yourself an '04. Nix what I said about box type stuff. Means you've got a higher chance finding a cheap donor from an '04 and up.

[Whosondephone]

I've pumped myself up to do the axle swap. I had not considered replacing the whole rear end. Do you think i could carry it myself? I think if there are any more problems I will look into that. I've been studying up on axle and gear replacements. Having a wife, 3 year old, and a 2 month old I'm definitely getting a head ache. Ordered two axles from Carquest about $200 a pop. Just to have them. Rock auto wanted ~ $250 shipped for 2. But I wanted to be sure those lug bolts were pressed in.

If I clean the tubes with a "barrel brush" is there enough room to push debris past the inner bearings and gears? Do you think I should replace both axles if one is bad? I'm also kind of wondering about the inner bearings there dosen't seem to be any info on the net about replacing those. I take that as a good thing.

[gadget73]

It will push the oil through the inner bearings if needed. Most of it will drain out on it's own though. The axles don't tend to wear so bad that they put a significant amount of metal in the oil, and what does end up in the oil will generally be suspended well enough that just draining it will get it out. If you're concerned you can always fill it, drive it a week or so, then change it again. The magnet is a good idea, everything in there is steel or iron.

I guess if you really wanted to you could pop the carrier out to get the inner bearings out of the picture.

Google says the Fox Mustang 8.8 rear axle to axle complete is 160 lbs, Panthers are a little wider so expect slightly more but probably not more than about 200. Last one of these I helped get out of the junkyard we left tires on it and rolled it. Getting it in and out of the truck was 2 people and it was a struggle. I'm not exactly the pinnacle of physical fitness though.

[DerekTheGreat]

I've done an axle swap before. If I can do it, you can certainly do it. They aren't that bad, just take your time. For what you spent on axle shafts, you could've had a whole rear end. I paid ~$100 for the last axle I nabbed from a junk yard and it was complete drum to drum. Just make sure you inspect the donor before you even start removing it. Make sure it's the ratio you want and a posi. Spin the yoke to see if the axles then turn nicely with it, inspect the brakes, take the cover off and look at the ring gear, pinon and spider gears for chunks and abnormal wear- check for leaky seals and all that while you're there too.. Hell, I believe I took parts from several other rear ends to make one great one before I hauled it off to the check-out counter. Brake stuffs that it is, and U-bolts.

Weight is a good concern. I had a helper, but I ended up hoisting it myself, one side at a time onto the wheel barrow and then into the bed of my truck.

[FordMan77]

Ugh, sounds like another failed axle in the 03-04 years. Biggest sore spot of my 03 since I bought it. Sorry, been down this road 3 times with my 03 LX Sport before I finally replaced the entire rear axle assembly with one from an '11. I got so fed up with replacing axles/bearings because of the "improperly hardened" issue Ford gave us.

With the new rear assembly I pulled both axles and outer bearings then tilted the entire assembly on jackstands one side at a time so I could flush each axle tube out. Left the carrier in place so as not to have to screw with the spider gears. Always install a new bolt for the rear pin. Ford has them for cheap. After cleaning everything out I installed Yukon chromoly axles on both sides and new outer bearings. Along with an aluminum GT500 rear axle cover (has a drain bolt in it). So far it's been good to go and I'm not always easy on it. My trans is modded so it'll bark 2nd if I really hammer it and still has no complaints.

Keep in mind that if you change rear gear ratios from your stock ratio you'll have to update the rest to match. If you install a trac-loc rear axle in the same ratio then you should be fine, just turn off the trac-assist and let the rear do it's thing. FYI- If you have/install a Trac-Loc rear axle be sure to use the proper gear oil. With my 3.27 trac-loc I run Mobil 1 75W-140 Synthetic in it. If you have trac-loc always make sure you have the friction modifier in the fluid.

[Whosondephone]

Hopefully driving like a grandma will spare me from having to think about this again. But a newer rear transfer case is something I'll consider for the future.

I changed the Axles last weekend. I observed some interesting stuff. On the driver side which I thought was bad, It appeared the bearing was not seated all the way. The reason I noticed was because when I was driving in the passenger side I never heard a discernible change in tone when hammering it in. I feel confident it was in all the way though. There was an even space between the bearing and the machining step. I compared that to the driver side measuring from the bearing to the tube opening. The driver side bearing was sticking out at least 1/16". I also couldn't see the machining step.

The passenger axle probably needed to be changed. I could see a few minor smooth craters. I didn't measure any out of roundness or ware on either axle. If memory serves they measure 1.40" The new Doorman axles were measuring 1.39" more often than 1.40"

I just changed them out because It's just as much effort if not more to bring all my tools to my father in law's and get the car safely up on jackstands where I feel comfortable crawling under it.

He was very sweet to me. I work nights so I started in the afternoon and he would come out to check up on me almost every hour offering help. I didn't finish untill 4:00AM. He also offered to clean up.

Driver Side

https://i.postimg.cc/hj92K4nf/1208241803a.jpg

Passenger Side

https://i.postimg.cc/rsfCpKPF/1208241802a.jpg

[sly]

Yeah... passenger side is toast. It may not have measured out... but the coating was worn off and starting to go so it was only a matter of time. The driver side could probably be kept on hand as a spare just in case if you wanted.

[gadget73]

The pitting is very shortly before significant and ugly failure. The case hardened part the bearing rides on is peeling away from the soft inner core. Once it starts popping out in chunks it just continues to do so until there is nothing left and its just running right on the warm gooey center.

[Whosondephone]

I was considering the DANA RD52005 gasket from Rock Auto. But it was over $30 shipped. I went with gasket maker. Have you tried any reusable gaskets like this? I slightly remember my father getting me a similar heavy duty oil pan gasket which worked well. Would have saved me some headacke worrying about degreasing twords the end.

Perhaps it's because I'm listening too hard, I can't help think it used to be quieter. It sounds to me like when it was just starting. It certainly rides much quieter now.

My rear tires are going bald on the insides. I put them in the back after replacing the worn out ball joints. Then ran them underinflated for a bit. I just found out the 86 Grand Marquis rims fit perfectly. Pictures soon!

[gadget73]

I've always just used ultra black. If its good enough for the factory its good enough for me. Haven''t had leakage issues from it.


86 wheels have very much the wrong offset for an 03+

[jaywish]

2nd on Ultra Black

[Whosondephone]

86 wheels have very much the wrong offset for an 03+

Thank you. I think you just saved me lots of pain. I'm guessing what you are referring to is the tires sit out a bit farther. Or are a bit wider messing with the spider gear ratios. Not to mention put stress on the bearings and axles. I really did want to see that though.

[sly]

The part that mounts to the lugs is in a different position. It will poke out past the fenders and you risk wheel well damage and the tires WILL rub the inner fenders when turning. Also, 15 and smaller inch wheels will not clear the brake calipers without enough spacers to poke the tire WAY outside the fenders.