I too had ring and pinion changed about 1000 miles ago. It started again at 61 and 71 will be bringing it back to dealer next week. I think they will half to replace rearend. That makes 4 trips to dealer for problems and truck has just 3900 miles. When they do get this fixed this truck is the best riding truck out there.

 

Well took truck back to dealer yesterday for second attempt to repair the rear end whining/howling noise. Service kept it overnite, said they were waiting on Ford for some direction, that if FORD OK's it they would like to replace the entire rear end.

That sounds good to me, however I just hope if that's the case it is properly reassebled (brakes bled, wheel alignment, all bolts tight etc.)

Anyone had their rear end replaced and noticed any "secondary problems"?

Will update all when more is known.

 

I am curious to! Thanks davatk for posting your statements on the site. I know its crazy for it to happen to an expensive piece of equipment. Mine whining started at about 5000 miles.
Good luck I hope they replace the rear end.

Shane

 

Well, they still have my truck, said something about replacing the whole rear end, but then when I questioned them as to the details it seemed that it was not the ENTIRE assy, maybe just the ring and pinion. Anyway, they said what they were going to do
was what FORD recommened, so, we'll see...

I hope to get it back today.


Will update all when I have more to report.

 

Well, got my truck back yesterday afternoon, and guess what.

NO WHINING NOISE !!

Apparently they replaced the ring & pinion and a bunch of other related components. The service ticket had a line item on it for a differential overhaul.

Anyhow, I now have absolutely NO WHINE. I can hear the engine again

I hope this lasts, if not, as the terminator said "I'll be baaack"

Hope you guys get yours fixed too, at least this proves to me that it shouldn't have the noise regardless of whether they say it's normal....it ain't.

 

That is good news, glad to hear that the problem was finally resolved.

 

That's great to hear Davatk! As you mentioned, it's great to have a quiet ride! As much as these Ford people state, rear end noise is NOT normal. Hope your truck is problem free from now on. Enjoy!!!!

 

Glad to hear they finally fixed it for you.

Now the only whinning you should hear is all the dodge, chevy and titan owners as you pass them on the highway

 

I've got an '04 F150, 5.4ltr., 4x4, 3.55 limited slip rear end. Only 5 weeks old. After 3 weeks and about 1500 miles, we made an out of town camping trip pulling our 24' pontoon boat and a full load (about 5500-6000lbs). About 300 miles down the road, noticed a grinding noise and vibration when turning. Originally thought it was wheel bearings in the trailer hubs but soon found the problem was with the truck rear end. The vibration was terrible, would about shake you out of the seat. Only did it when making a turn under power.

Got it to the dealer out of state. He said it was the pinion gears, had a shop full of them in front of me, would take a week to fix. Made it home to my local dealer. Turns out that the clutch in the limited slip rear end had gone bad. Dealer tells me it has been enough of a problem that Ford has redesigned the rear end clutch assy. Anyway, vibration problem solved. My new problem is the dreaded Ford whining noise. I never heard it prior to the repair to the rear end. It seems to start around 30-35mph and you hear it up to around 65-70mph.

In reading some other posts, I guess I'll get it back to the dealer and start that process again.

Anyone else had a similar problem with the severe vibration when turning? Just wondering how wide-spread this problem is.

Mark

 

Well, about 2-3 days after I got my truck back, noticed the whining noise returned, however now I only hear it between the
speeds of 50-52 MPH. Not as bad as it was, but I'm figuring this is the start of the noise coming back in full force. I'm not gonna take it back in till it gets worse.

 

I don't notice a wining at 60 mph, but when i get the truck up to 140-160kph (canada) i hear a droneing, like a wine i guess, was wondering if this is it, i figure it could be just wind baffleing, or maybe the front bug deflector or something, but always starts at 140kph.

I know its fast driving, but i just tried to govern er one day and noticed it.

What do ye think. is it worth mentioning?

 

davatk:

What is the status? Has the whining gotten any worse?

My 2004 F150 4x4 is back in the shop with the whining noise. Service advisor told me today that Ford advises not to do any repairs until they have a 'fix' for the whining problem. After some choice words, they still have the truck and the service mgr. is looking into some solutions.

I'm trying to decide if I should try to force the dealer to replace the pinion gears because, based on some responses from this site, I'm not convinced that would be a fix.

Mark

 

Well I took my my new F-150 FX-4 on its first camping trip and about 1500 km (1000 miles) into it, I got this wicked vibration/shuddering in the rear end. I took it to a local dealer and they told me they had to replace the clutch plates in the rear end and that there was a service bulletin on this issue.

Next thing I start noticing the dreaded whine from the rear end, only when light acceleration applied (under full acceleration or coasting there is no noise).

I take it in to my local dealer when I get home. They tell me Ford is working on this problem (still investigating) and don't want them to do any work on it until they know what the issue is.

So I get the call last week to bring it in this Tuesday and that it will take two days (because they need to open it up, and then contact Ford before doing any work). Wednesday I get told that they were waiting for parts that just arrived at the end of the day and that they did not get a chance to put it back together. Thursday same thing only this time they are waiting for a bearing. Friday (today) I get the same story only this time it is a shim they are waiting for. Hmmm...not sounding good.

I'm starting to wonder if they didn't back into another car and they are doing bodywork! :-)

I'll post results if I ever get the friggin truck back!

 

So my truck spends a week in the shop. They finally get all the pieces in and back together. The tech takes the truck for a test drive and although the constant whining noise is gone, it now whines on deceleration.

Apparently they had not yet replaced the crown gear, so that was todays job. The truck is now supposed to be ready and whine-free.

This and only 8 days in the shop!

My 98 F-150 wasn't in the shop 8 days over the 3.5 years I owned it.

Will post results later - keeping fingers crossed.

 

Well they probably spent about 3X what it would have cost for them to put a new rear end in the truck, but it does appear that they finally resolved the whining noise - nothing on acceleration or deceleration (although I have not had a chance to take er for a rip on the highway yet).

The work order reads like a book - seems they had a lot of problems with tolerances getting everything put back together. Required new crown and pinion set, shims, pinion bearings, carrier bearings. (if you're interested I can type in the whole sordid details).

Anyway, I'm not happy with the delay but looks like my baby is back in proper order. Just wish they had touched up the differential with some paint - already rusting from the first repair (doesn't look pretty on a brand new truck!).