Have had a rear end whine for a while and found out pinion bearing is sloppy (not leaking yet). I am wondering the difficulty level and special tools neaded to replace the rear pinion bearing.

2000 F-150 4x4 4.6

Thanks for the help. Barham56

 

Well, you can replace the front pinion bearing by removing the nut and removing the seal and bearing. To replace it, you need a new crush sleeve, bearing, seal, and nut. Then you need to torque the nut enough to crush the sleeve (about 400 ft. lbs. in my experience). Crushing the sleeve to get the bearing preload just right is tricky. If the diff is totally disassembled, the preload is supposed to be enough to take about 25 in. lbs. of torque to turn the pinion with nothing in the rest of the diff. In order to get rid of the whine, you may have to replace the ring and pinion gears bearings etc, the whole tomale.

 

Roadie,

Thanks for the reply. I don't particularly care about the whine it self. I just know a sloppy bearing needs to addressed asap or you wind up leaving parts on the road. Just out of curiosity though. How much might the whole tomale be at a $30/hour mechanic, and when do you know it's bad enough to require that?

Thanks again, Barham

 

I would imagine its probably a 2 hour job at retail shop labor

 

Well, there are 2 pinion bearings. Replacing the front one may be all you need and maybe not. If it needs both, you are talking disassembling the entire rear with the cost that comes with it.

 

if in doubt, do them both. aka do it right.

 

Pulled the drive shaft to get a better feel of the rear and and dicided that the outer pinion bearing is just part of the problem. There is pretty major movement in the pinion gear. Talked to a couple of mechanics and have decided to go with replacing the entire rear end with a used one myself. Have a torch and a pretty good bit of elbow grease.

ANy tips?:

 

1/2" drive 1/2" deep socket works well for disconnecting the ebrake cable... :P