i,m suspecting a outside bearing but i,ll ask to save time....symptom:when accelerating there is a metallic whine like gear meshing but louder,stops when you let off the accelerater but starts when you press on the gas...been doing it for several months and have changed out the fluid and looking at the marks on the gears they appear to be messhing centered..here lately in the mornings,when you get into the cab,it smells like differential fluid so i pull the rear drums and the driverside is showing just the slightest leak out of seal(dust is wet but not running down and you can smell the fluid)...a friend said he thought it could be the tail shaft bearing?...the u-joints are new(4 months),changed because of noise,didnt help...97 4.6l auto 2X4 82000 miles...thinking about taking it to a shop that does diff,s only(figure they wouldnt play the guessing game on me)...any ideas or questions i can pass on to the shop? thanks

 

the rear end is dying a slow death...the pinion bearing and the inner bearings are going out...cost...700 dollars to rebuild....gonna go junk yarding....tech said it is rare for a ford rear to go bad...lucky me

 

pinion bearing and carrier bearings with seals and labor=600 bucks

 

Do ya have new gears in it? It'd be a good time to go ahead with new gears if you're going to do all that other stuff.

-Flea

 

i,m just trying to keep it together so i can see what the 2004,s are gonna look like and sell her...if they look bad i,ll keep her and go ahead and drop the gears in...shop gave it a 12 month 12000 mile warrenty on thier work...took it up on the tollway tonight...funny thing ,that thunk that i always had since new,when ever i drop it down in gear, is gone...and the whine is gone ...and the exhaust never sounded sweeter...the mechanic that did the work and took it for a test drive when done ,came back with this $h!t eattin grin on his face...it was funny,all he could say was nice truck,nice truck..the owner of the shop said if i wanted to mod the gears, he'd work a deal out for me ...it,s nice to know people who do quality work,and care about thier customers...here what i,m saying there Bill (Ford)

 

I just replaced the rearend in my '97 at 120,000 miles. The whine and roaring are gone, nice to be quiet again. In this area rearends with 18,000-40,000 miles on them at salvage yards run from $500-$650. I paid $500 and did the swap myself.

 

i checked around here and got the big city prices of 850 and 900. thats what made me decide to stay original...save a couple of hundred...get a 12 month,12000 mile warrenty..and save about a half a jug of gojo