rear axle!!!! TROUBLES!!! HELP PLEASE!!!!

[jake122288]

I have a 1994 ford explorer with roughly 275 thousand miles on it. Its mostly just a backup vehicle and i want to convert it into a mud toy. but i encountered a slight problem. I was driving it home one day about a month ago and it stopped transfering power to my rear wheels. I got it towed home and was checking it out and my driveshaft still spins with the vehicle in gear and when the rear tires are jacked up, you can spin the tires and it causes the driveshaft to spin (with the transmission in neutral) So by process of elimination i know the problem is in my rear axle someplace? But my question is do i just need to replace the axle shafts or am i going to have to replace the whole differential gears or both and how can i tell? And if i have to replace the differential gears (or spider gears I've heard it called both) how do i go about replacing those or is it a job better left to a professional? Or would it just be easier to swap a whole axle casing with all the axle internals already in it? This is my first time working with this problem so any and all help is greatly appreciated thank you!

 

[jd4242]

I have a 1994 ford explorer with roughly 275 thousand miles on it. Its mostly just a backup vehicle and i want to convert it into a mud toy. but i encountered a slight problem. I was driving it home one day about a month ago and it stopped transfering power to my rear wheels. I got it towed home and was checking it out and my driveshaft still spins with the vehicle in gear and when the rear tires are jacked up, you can spin the tires and it causes the driveshaft to spin (with the transmission in neutral) So by process of elimination i know the problem is in my rear axle someplace? But my question is do i just need to replace the axle shafts or am i going to have to replace the whole differential gears or both and how can i tell? And if i have to replace the differential gears (or spider gears I've heard it called both) how do i go about replacing those or is it a job better left to a professional? Or would it just be easier to swap a whole axle casing with all the axle internals already in it? This is my first time working with this problem so any and all help is greatly appreciated thank you!

if you still have drum brakes i would swap the whole axle out for one that has disc brakes.fixes the problem and gets you better braking.i would save its your tranny though.put the car in neutral on the ground and block the tires so it wont go rolling away and crawl under there and try and spin the drive shaft,if it doesn't spin with the truck in neutral then its not your rear end.

 

[jake122288]

already have and the driveshaft spins and it will actually spin the rear tires if the vehicle is jacked off the ground! I've got it pin pointed into the rear end already and i thought about getting an axle at a junk yard with disc brakes but what years are compatible i dont know! All i know is i have dana 35 axles and not even sure of the actual gear ratio and the only method of figuring that out i cant do now due to the rear end locking up when i pulled it with another truck into the garage

 

[DeRocha]

Do you hear/feel any grinding in the rear diff? Usually you'll heard lots of bad noise when you break something. Is it an auto or man? Did you try and engage 4x4 to see if the front wheels would pull it? Auto transmissions A4ld aren't too beefy and tend to be a weak link in the drive train.

 

[jd4242]

already have and the driveshaft spins and it will actually spin the rear tires if the vehicle is jacked off the ground! I've got it pin pointed into the rear end already and i thought about getting an axle at a junk yard with disc brakes but what years are compatible i dont know! All i know is i have dana 35 axles and not even sure of the actual gear ratio and the only method of figuring that out i cant do now due to the rear end locking up when i pulled it with another truck into the garage

there should be a tag on it telling you what it is.95-97 seem to be the years everyone uses,but you need to know what gears you got first
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[jake122288]

well it was about 18 mnths ago i started hearing a whining or hum noise to the rear end when i would drive down the road had a certified mechanic check it out said my rear end was going out... and now 75,000 miles later it is but the only noises i really heard is when i got it stuck in the snow this winter i gave it gas trying to rock it back and forth to get out of the snow drift and the driver side back tire would try to spin but still make a grinding noise and then i'd let off the gas and it do it again... but when it was dry roads i never heard anything. then about a week before it went out totally i would be pulling out into traffic and turning and i'd get on the throttle hard and it would make that grinding noise again and my rpms would skyrocket but not have the full power transfer to my wheels (but it still transfered enough power to get the truck up to speed) and once it was moving back straight again it'd seem fine. as for the 4 wheel drive my transfer case is burned out and doesnt work so i actually have the front shaft removed until i fix it

 

[jake122288]

i've looked all over the rear axle and even the front but havent found a tag at all maybe im just looking in the wrong spot? Where should i look for that tag? and it is an automatic tranny

 

[jd4242]

i've looked all over the rear axle and even the front but havent found a tag at all maybe im just looking in the wrong spot? Where should i look for that tag? and it is an automatic tranny

it should be on one of the bolts on the rear diff cover
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[jake122288]

yea... well there isnt anything on any of the bolts? Is it like a tag just connected to the bolt or is it actually attached to the axle housing and just one of the bolts go through it? and if say i go out tommorrow and look again with the daylight and it's not there how else can i figure this out? especially with my rear end being locked up now. is there a way i can figure it out by counting the teeth on the gears? or even easier would there be a web site or someplace i can look it up online with the vin number and would that tell me since it is still all stock? once again thanks for all the help

 

[jake122288]

well im back to the trouble shooting since i now have time again...i went ahead and pulled the rear end...jw and now i know i have the 8.8 inch with 3.73 ratio and limited slip.... so doesnt that mean if say both tires are off the ground and the driveshaft is disconnected if u spin one tire by hand the other one should spin too (idr if its the same or opposite direction for the limited slip) well with mine it doesnt matter which side u spin... but only that tire spins...the pinion yoke still spins like it should but not the other tire? does that leave my issue relying in the clutch plates of the limited slip or the spider gears or at least someplace in there?

 

[doonze]

Yes, if you spin one the other should spin also. If that doesn't happen things like parking gear no workie, and you end up with trucks INSIDE the house, or rolling over you, or other bad stuff.

I know on most diffs (open and Limited Slip I think) the tire moves the OPPOSITE direction (in park or when drive shaft in not moviable)... IIRC.... but I'm not 100% sure. Went through this with another poster on here and never figured it out. And no one posted up to confirm/deny.

I haven't had a rear end in the air to play with in 7-8 years, and for the life of me I just can't remember. I had one Limited slip 3.27 and a open 3.08 I was playing with. (all GM, for my Trans Am) but I think they ALL have one tire that moves forward and one that moves backward.... IF THE TRANNY IS IN PARK OR FOR A MANUAL IN GEAR....

In other words, if the rear is in the air, and the drive shaft can't move, I think they oppose each other (and that's how park works, they still move, just in oppisite directions, so when both wheels on the ground it "locks" it) They dont' just not move if in park. I think if the drive shaft can move one type will move both wheels together (LS I think) and an open will only move 1 wheel....

For the life of me I can't remember what they did with the drive shaft free. I do know I had no problem dragging the loose rears around with no dive shaft in, so they rolled together with no driveshaft installed without a problem....

I've been meaning to jack mine up just to test all this so I can remember, just haven't done it yet.

 

[nitro71]

Have you opened the diff cover? That's the first thing to do. If it's not full of metal then it's probably good.

 

[jake122288]

Have you opened the diff cover? That's the first thing to do. If it's not full of metal then it's probably good.

well i pulled it all apart today removed everything but the pinion, and attached to the side gears are like 6 plates per side...i wanna say those are the clutch plates (if i remember correctly but not sure) for the LS...and once again if i remember right 3 of the 6 per side should have 2 tabs on it which slide into slots on the carrier.... well i only have one per side and they are closest to the side gear (on each side) i also recovered what seems like the remains of the other tabs in the bottom of the diff...and i see what looks like where the tabs were supposed to be?...i'll post pics in a while to show exactly what im talking about could this be my problem...and i also decided to spin the pinion yoke b4 i removed the axles and it still turned one axle shaft but not the other (this is with it out from the truck and sitting on jack stands) im just lost lol so if u can help me out it'd be super appreciated thanks and i'll get on those pics since they can explain better than i know how lol thanks again

 

[jake122288]

well here are my pics and there is 7 plates per side gear...the first two are the ones opposite the ring gear and the next 4 are the ones closest to the ring gear and and the final pic is of the shreads of those tabs as i call them

opposite ring gear plates

closest to ring gear plates

ones of the plates (with tabs alone) very special its mangled

and last the metal shavings (that look like the tabs from the broken plates)

 

[doonze]

Well, I'd say you found your problem! I see a new rear for you in my crystal ball...

 

[Robrt32]

mechanic work in flip flops, you a brave man

 

[nitro71]

I'd let some of the guys that know rear ends chime in. Those shims go bad and I know you loose your LS. Not sure you should lose your whole rear end though? Anyone have some insight on how it works back there? Also if it's just the shims that are bad I'd just replace them instead of a whole rear end or ring and pinion job. How do the spiders and the ring and pinion look?

 

[jake122288]

Well, I'd say you found your problem! I see a new rear for you in my crystal ball...

well i wanna try to avoid getting a whole new rear end with this bign my problem (i hope) so if anyone knows a place i could purchase these shims/clutch plates whatever u wanna call them...and if anyone knows the actual order they go in..since there is 2 diff kinds of plates in the stack..one has the tabs the other doesnt? lemme know thanks a bunch

 

[jake122288]

mechanic work in flip flops, you a brave man

lol trust me i watched my every foot position very well...my usual steel toed shoes were forgot in my buddies truck after a long day of geting muddy on the quads...sometimes u have to make sacrifices tho

 

[jake122288]

I'd let some of the guys that know rear ends chime in. Those shims go bad and I know you loose your LS. Not sure you should lose your whole rear end though? Anyone have some insight on how it works back there? Also if it's just the shims that are bad I'd just replace them instead of a whole rear end or ring and pinion job. How do the spiders and the ring and pinion look?

yea i didnt think i'd lose my whole rear end too...but its the only thing that seems damaged mangled broke f***ed up however u wanna put it. but i dont fully understand how a LS works totally besides the fact the "clutchs" allow different power to be transfered to both tires at once...so if someone can explain more how the ls design works a bit better that would be awesome too...the ring and pinion look in damn good shape for 275k miles lol i think there is like one small chip on a single tooth on the ring but that is the only thing i see...all the spider gears look great along with the pinion im hoping for some stronger insight from the rear end guys that know there stuff too... but as for a mechanic shop...my truck hasnt seen on since i bought it and im keeping it that way... its a good way to learn and forums and nice ppl like you guys make it much easier (and cheaper)