high pitch humming turned into grinding noise

[Rocinante]

Hi all. For the last month or so, my wifes 2002 2WD XLT Explorer has has a high pitch humming (not a squeal) coming from the back of the car. It never changed in pitch, and always stopped when the brakes were pressed, even a little. So I changed the brake pads, which needed to be changed anyways, but that did not fix it.

It was not getting worse very quickly, so I figured I had some more time to find out what was wrong. But I just got a call that the noise is gone, and now there is a grinding type noise.

Is this a bearing problem in the back-end somewhere. How can I test where exactly it comes from? I can do some type of work on cars, and have lots of tools, and am hoping this is something I can tackle.

Thanks for all your help. This is a great forum, and I have found good info so far.

 

[Spazz]

Ahh!!

I think I know what this is. There was a TSB on this.
Has something to with the ring and pinion.

Theres a thread here on it. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=157872

 

[Rocinante]

Thanks. Is there a way to verify this is the cause, and do you know of a place that gives good instructions on how to do this work? I am fairly handy and have done some work on cars, but never this type of work.

 

[Spazz]

Im not sure how to verify it. It is the only thing that is related to a hum that i can think of tho. And i know this is a fairly common problem with 02's
(it happened to my moms 02 but it was under warranty)

There is a kit that you buy to fix this that comes with the parts i think?
Maybe theres a manual in it?
Im not too sure.