Rear end noises..

SwickMachine · Nov 21, 2015

Oh holy mustang gurus... I call on your assistance in helping me find the source of my issues!!!

I have recently been having some noise coming from the rear of my car. listening to it, it sounds exactly like a wheel bearing going out (grinding/scratching) After inspecting with a stethoscope I narrowed the noises to be coming from either the back brakes or the rear wheel bearings... at least I think... lol Under further inspection the back brake pad on the passenger inner of the car was hitting the wear indicators and was very close to being metal on metal. I then changed the rear brakes and made no difference in the sound. I then pulled the axels out and inspected the wheel bearings and decided since I was already there to just replace the bearings and the seals. I put everything back together and filled the rear end up with fluid and friction modifier. (just to rule that out) Just got done going for a text drive and its making the same exact noise. I'm starting to run out of options here. I had my dad drive the car while I laid across the back seats into the trunk and could clearly hear it resonating from both sides of the axel. I was thinking before that test drive that it might be the pinion bearing but the sound would be coming more from within the middle of the trunk I would think.

Any advice or opinions would be very helpful. Thanks everyone!

Evan :grin:

CC'S95GT · Nov 21, 2015

Is anything rubbing on the driveshaft? Emergency brake cable or cable bracket, or exhaust.

the5.ohh · Nov 21, 2015

Stock gears, or were they changed at some point? If they were changed, pop open the diff and see what's inside.

SwickMachine · Nov 22, 2015

CC'S95GT said:
Is anything rubbing on the driveshaft? Emergency brake cable or cable bracket, or exhaust.

not that I had seen when I was under there before. I'm going to crawl back under there either sometime today or tomorrow.

SwickMachine · Nov 22, 2015

the5.ohh said:
Stock gears, or were they changed at some point? If they were changed, pop open the diff and see what's inside.

i had the cover off yesterday and it all seemed like the stock gears in it. I didn't go counting teeth but it looked exactly like my 99 did before we changed the gears in it

g36 monkey · Nov 22, 2015

You really think you can look at a set of gears without another set next to it and determine "these are 3.27" without counting?

Rain man.

96blak54 · Nov 22, 2015

He didnt state the year, so they could be 2.73 or 3.27.

Just do yourself a favor and pull the rear apart, but not before buying a 4.10 gear and bearing kit. Dont forget the clutch pack.

A Ford rearend is not likely to have issues and when their is, youll be pulling it all apart, so might as well spend the money for desired parts.
BAM!

SwickMachine · Nov 22, 2015

g36 monkey said:
You really think you can look at a set of gears without another set next to it and determine "these are 3.27" without counting?

Rain man.

not necessarily what I was trying to say. the car seems completely bone stock from what I can see. From the radio down to the stock airbox. I don't think its ever had anything done at all besides general maintenance. I pulled the rear end apart to change the axel bearings and seals because that's where the noise sounded like it was coming from. It seemed as it has never been broken into because after I sprayed off the inside to get all of the old fluid out of there, there was no kind of scarring on the bearing cap bolts like they have been taken apart. The 8mm bolt didn't seem to have any kind of wear either and I know that these are really easy to round off. Those were just the few things I had checked. I was kind of in a hurry because the next day it was supposed to rain here. (speaking of rain man lol)

SwickMachine · Nov 22, 2015

96blak54 said:
He didnt state the year, so they could be 2.73 or 3.27.

Just do yourself a favor and pull the rear apart, but not before buying a 4.10 gear and bearing kit. Dont forget the clutch pack.

A Ford rearend is not likely to have issues and when their is, youll be pulling it all apart, so might as well spend the money for desired parts.
BAM!

My only issue with doing this is that I don't have the necessary tools to do it. If I still had access to a lift, air compressor and all the specialty tools id tackle it no problem. I could just pull the rear from the car no problem. hmmmmm... yall are getting me thinking now. but id like to diag the problem before I go changing gears and that STILL not be the problem lol

g36 monkey · Nov 22, 2015

Haha alright thanks for clarifying. Given all of that information, you're probably right about them being stock. While you had it apart for the bearings, did you go ahead and get the rotors turned, or put new ones on?

SwickMachine · Nov 22, 2015

g36 monkey said:
Haha alright thanks for clarifying. Given all of that information, you're probably right about them being stock. While you had it apart for the bearings, did you go ahead and get the rotors turned, or put new ones on?

haha, hard to believe I found a bone stock SN car that's not ragged out huh? I said the same thing. The car has its quirks but seems like a great running car besides the issue I'm having. its so quiet with the stock exhaust you can hear every little issue it has. The car has over 215k miles (that's when the odo stopped) so I expected something to go wrong. lol

yeah I replaced, the bearings, seals, pads, rotors and the diff cover (because racecar, :grin: literally the first aftermarket piece on the car from what I can tell)

as I said in the original post, I could clearly hear it coming from the wheel well when I had my dad drive and I laid in the trunk. didn't hear it too much where the spare goes. so its towards the end of the axel it seems.

Another side note though. The noise does not change speed either but does get louder. At about 15 mph you can hear it start. around 30 its audible when you have the windows up. I checked the backing plate for the brakes because I know those do get louder but don't change pitch and theyre over an inch away.

Sorry for the book, just trying to give as much info as possible.

96blak54 · Nov 22, 2015

If its untouched, the rear diff tag sould be there. Itll state what gear installed.

BAM!

the5.ohh · Nov 22, 2015

g36 monkey said:
You really think you can look at a set of gears without another set next to it and determine "these are 3.27" without counting?

Rain man.

Not what I meant. I asked if he knew what gears were in the car, stock or different.. Then I said, look inside and see what the gears look like.. Meaning any damage.

Rain Man.

the5.ohh · Nov 22, 2015

Read over that again. Ignore my reply lol, I see that wasn't directed towards me.

SwickMachine · Nov 22, 2015

96blak54 said:
If its untouched, the rear diff tag sould be there. Itll state what gear installed.

BAM!

I actually have the tag in my hand. lol

after decoding, its a limited slip with 3.08 gear ratio inside of an 8.8 rear end.

need to go boosted with those gears haha

lwarrior1016 · Nov 23, 2015

I had the same noise coming from my 98 when I got it. I changed the outside axel bearings and seals, no difference. I cant remember exactly which on it was pinion or carrier but when I tore it down I could clearly see which one was making noise. I drove mine for a few years with it making noise like that. I think that's what you will need to do.

rz5.0 · Nov 23, 2015

I would also make sure the side pins are grease and move easily..

Sent from my LGLS996 using Tapatalk

SwickMachine · Nov 23, 2015

lwarrior1016 said:
I had the same noise coming from my 98 when I got it. I changed the outside axel bearings and seals, no difference. I cant remember exactly which on it was pinion or carrier but when I tore it down I could clearly see which one was making noise. I drove mine for a few years with it making noise like that. I think that's what you will need to do.

same year. Same problem. I guess I'll look into it more. Thanks!

OLD H2S · Jan 1, 2016

Any update? I betting pinion bearings.

9838stang · Jan 5, 2016

I had that issue before, I put disc brake quiet on the back of the brake pads and it shut it up. make sure all of the slide pins move freely

When you replaced your brake pads, did you replace the rear caliper springs, or get the rear brake pad install kit? If not, you may not be getting the proper fit and allowing the pads to move

http://www.autozone.com/brakes-and-...c-hardware-kit-rear/124964_0_0/?checkfit=true