Rear end roar-is there a fix? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Rear end roar-is there a fix?

davedwards

Member
Joined
April 21, 2009
Messages
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City, State
Mount Olive NC
Year, Model & Trim Level
2004 Explorer LTD
04 explorer limited V8 automatic 4x4.I'm hearing quite a bit of noise in the rear end when accelerating or cruising at speed.My wife said I was dreaming,but I took a ride in the back seat today and the roar is much more noticable there.When you let off the gas,the roaring stops.Is there a fix for this without having to sell a kidney to pay for it? Thanks
 



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02's and early 03's tend to have rear end roars... havnt seen too many 04's with the problem.

Are you sure its the rear end? Usually the roar happens when you let off the gas and coast instead of applying gas.

Maybe a rear wheel bearing?
 












My 04 suffered from the infamous rear end diff failure that caused this roaring. Replaced under extended warranty.
 






My 04 suffered from the infamous rear end diff failure that caused this roaring. Replaced under extended warranty.

If you are referring to the ring and pinion epic fail, then our '04 did that also by 35k miles. It was replaced and now is doing it again at 120k. Guess what...it's going to stay howling at 60 mph until it breaks this time.
 






I am having this same issue with my '04. Does anyone know how much this repair costs? Has Ford come up with a perminent fix yet?
 






Mine dose it too once the fluid gets good and hot, but who cares this is something they do and with these being connected to the body, the sound is magnified.
 






basicly i feel 3 gen expos are just throw away vehicles drive just before thet fail then trade in or sell ,

i have a 03 Eddie 4.0 174k ,
problems:

1 Rubber around both front balljoints dryrotted cracked .
2 rear differential whines.
3 driveshaft makes a crack sound in reverse.
4 rear seals leak
5 replaced front wheel bearings
6 rear wheel bearings starting to let go
7 i suspect timing chain slack .

i am now looking for a replacement and i wont be a explorer this was my 2nd one
 






basicly i feel 3 gen expos are just throw away vehicles drive just before thet fail then trade in or sell ,

i have a 03 Eddie 4.0 174k ,
problems:

1 Rubber around both front balljoints dryrotted cracked .
2 rear differential whines.
3 driveshaft makes a crack sound in reverse.
4 rear seals leak
5 replaced front wheel bearings
6 rear wheel bearings starting to let go
7 i suspect timing chain slack .

i am now looking for a replacement and i wont be a explorer this was my 2nd one

What you describe are not-so-uncommon things for a vehicle with that kind of mileage....especially if never replaced before. Timing chain, ball joints, bearings....all at 174k....sounds typical to me.

The whine is common on the 3rd gen's, I'm still debating whether to have mine fixed (again?) or not....the diff clutch pack and ring/pinion was replaced when it was under warranty from the previous owner, at around 40k miles with the same sounds, now I'm at 126k and the sounds are here again....this time it would be on my dime to fix.

I wouldn't really call them throw-away vehicles, but if you do not maintain them at regular intervals....things go. Don't expect ball joints to last for 200k miles.
 






I agree on the ball joints, the need changing before you get to 100k normally. Had to replace all four on the '97 at 88k, what a pain. The uppers on te 05 need doing now, looks like the will be a lot easier.
 






04 explorer limited V8 automatic 4x4.I'm hearing quite a bit of noise in the rear end when accelerating or cruising at speed.My wife said I was dreaming,but I took a ride in the back seat today and the roar is much more noticable there.When you let off the gas,the roaring stops.Is there a fix for this without having to sell a kidney to pay for it? Thanks

If you are sure it is not your rear wheel bearings then change the fluid in the rear end making sure to get the right friction modifiers.

If the sound changes when you turn left or right then it is probably your wheel bearings. They are known to go out on third gen explorers
 






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