Grinding rear end

[MossyOak07]

I was driving this evening and when I was coming to a stop at a stop sign I heard and felt a grinding in the rear end. My first thought is rear brakes are shot. But when driving through the parking ramp at work I noticed a metal on metal sound when I wasnt even on the brakes. The grinding I feel only happens when I'm almost to a stop, at under 10mph. Could this be the brakes or is it something else? I haven't had a chance to crawl under and look yet.

 

[Lube]

Probably an axle bearing on it's way out.

 

[yavapaires]

Along with a possible axle bearing, you could have a bad u-joint, the brake pad could have some sort of debris caught in it, or the pads could be worn out and dragging against the rotor, or the parking brake could be dragging. You do have rear disk brakes don't you?

 

[MossyOak07]

No i have 4 wheel disc brakes. How could I check the see if its an axel bearing?

 

[RomeovilleIL]

First and foremost I would check the differential fluid level. If you have a leak and the gear oil is low you don't want the entire rear end to tear itself apart. Once that is ruled out, then I would check the brakes. The pads have a wear tab that will contact the disc and cause noise to alert you when the pad material is low. From there, check other items as noted by others above (ujoints, axel bearings, parking brake shoes <located back inside the disc>, etc.).

Usually the best way to isolate is lift the rear axel on jack stands and manually turn things to feel or hear resistance. Have someone else slowly drive the truck past you a few times and listen to see if seems to be louder on one side or is concentrated in the center of the truck.

 

[yavapaires]

No i have 4 wheel disc brakes. How could I check the see if its an axel bearing?

There will more than likely be gear oil leaking down the splash shield. Otherwise, jack up the wheel, try lifting the wheel while feeling for excessive movement.

 

[BigPip]

My buddies Mounty has axle noise and it also drifts in park... since it is only a 2WD we have decided to say the problem is in the axle somewhere too. The truck will be about 6 feet down the driveway from where it was parked sometimes. They now use the parking brake for obvious reason

 

[RomeovilleIL]

My buddies Mounty has axle noise and it also drifts in park... since it is only a 2WD we have decided to say the problem is in the axle somewhere too. The truck will be about 6 feet down the driveway from where it was parked sometimes. They now use the parking brake for obvious reason

There is no 2wd/4wd selector on AWD trucks. From your description that mounty is very likely an AWD that someone removed the front driveshaft. You can verify easily by looking at either front wheel. The AWD has cv axle driveshafts going from the differential into the hubs. A true 2wd has spindles with no driveshafts & no front differential.

People pull them when either the viscous coupler (transfer case) is shot or the ujoint and cv in the shaft go bad causing a lot of vibration (most common). Since the truck can still drive "ok" in 2-wheel and folks don't want to spend any $$, the shaft gets pulled and left at that.

You can get a new front driveshaft for under $300 if you shop around. Its called the propeller shaft. They come in 2 lengths 22-7/8 & 23-3/4 which don't seem to correspond to any true measurement I can come up with on the shaft or distance between TC and differential. Used ones aren't usually cheap and you have to be sure the cv joint on it is good as the cv's run over $100 by themselves.

 

[koda2000]

i'd start by having your rear brake pads checked. just because you heard the noise while not using the brakes doesn't mean its not the pads because the pads stay in contact (slightly) with the rotor even when you're not braking. If you have rear drum bakes it is more likely it could be a bearing issue, but i'd still check the shoes first.

 

[BigPip]

There is no 2wd/4wd selector on AWD trucks. From your description that mounty is very likely an AWD that someone removed the front driveshaft. .

umm... DUH. I have already confirmed that it is a 2wd truck and NOT an AWD hence the "2WD" drift.

 

[RomeovilleIL]

umm... DUH. I have already confirmed that it is a 2wd truck and NOT an AWD hence the "2WD" drift.

If its an original 2wd that drift will have nothing to do with the rear axle -- that would be a fubar'd parking pawl in the tranny.

 

[BigPip]

Tranny has already been check by a ford Tech, tranny is fine.

Rear end grinds and when you put it in park lay next to it you can hear the rear end moan as it starts to drift backwards.

It don't make sense to me either.

 

[yavapaires]

Tranny has already been check by a ford Tech, tranny is fine.

Rear end grinds and when you put it in park lay next to it you can hear the rear end moan as it starts to drift backwards.

It don't make sense to me either.

If it drifts in park, and it is two wheel drive, then I would say you have a broken axle. Otherwise the parking pawl in the trans is broken.