2008 F150 limited, screw AWD/4x4. 78,000 miles 5.4L. 5.5ft bed

Yesterday on my way home from work, I heard a clicking noise from underneath. I hear it more when driving next to a concrete divider. But at 1st i thought it was a rock in the tire.its a rotational noise. I Checked tires, found nothing. After 40mph, you cant hear it, mainly at 25-35mph. I know it can't be wheel hubs, because they are fairly new- Did them less then a month ago as well as front rotors and pads. The noise does not change tone under braking so i doubt its anything with brakes. Now i checked u-joints for main drive shaft and everything looked solid.-(I applied brakes, shifted truck into neutral, then applied ebrake)

Has anyone have this issue before? Ihave 2,000 miles left of my extended warranty. I hate letting anybody working on my truck, and if I do, I like to know what it is before they touch it. I appreciate any help, Thanks....

 

More than likely it is a U-joint, which quite often click when bad. It is not always easy to tell if a u-joint is bad without pulling them.

 

while you are driving and hear the noise, shift the truck into 4wd hi. if the noise goes away it is your 4wd iwe actuators at the wheels or the solenoid on the fire wall that controls the vacuum to the iwe actuators

 

I will give that a shot.... . I can't see the u-joints being bad, the truck is only got 78k miles.

 

Don't count on it. That's about all mine lasted.

 

well I had my wife drive while I sat in the bed of the truck, its definitely coming from the rear. so I popped the pass-rear tire off and noticed the inside of the rotor was shot.(I have slotted rotors, and the slots were flat and full of crud,) so I changed the rear rotors and pads thinking for sure I found the problem. took it for a test run and its still their. I had made an appt with ford for Monday morn, at least I know they cant tell me it was my brakes, I got new brakes all around and new front hubs. The only thing I can think of is the u-joints or something with the rear axle. Now a few months ago when I had repair work done to my truck by the dealer( oil leak and exhaust leak), I have pointed out the them that the rear diff cover looked damp with oil, he said they checked it and it fine. I noticed it looks kind of fresh. I have a feeling the covers gasket is no good and been leaking.

 

Pull the rear rotors back off and inspect the parking brakes.

 

my fault, when i said inside of the rotor, i meant the side thats towards the middle of the truck that the pads rides on.

 

well for those that are curious, got my truck back from dealer today, and they noticed the ring gear bolts were loose. so they re-installed and re-torqued, did a new seal on diff cover and fresh fluids. noise is gone.