Rattle in rear end

[krisema2176]

Hi. I have a 97 Eddie Bauer Explorer with a rattle in what sounds like the rear passenger tire area. We have replaced the rear pads and rotors and we have completely removed the parking brake (I live I Florida and have never used it anyway). It only rattles at acceleration upto 20-30mph. And doesn't do it if I am turning right. It sounds like a pissed off rattlesnake.

 

[Rick]

The axle shaft bearing could be making noise.

 

[krisema2176]

So it turned out to be the drive shaft u-joint. Had it rebuilt for $80.00. Problem solved!

 

[lobo411]

I don't get the "I live in Florida so I never use the parking brake" thing. Is it because people in Florida lack common sense?

 

[XLTrunner]

Well..since the original poster solved his problem, I guess we can open up this thread to the use or don't use Parking Brake Debate.

I, for one, get what he's saying...and, I don't necessarily think it's a lack of common sense. I've lived in the relatively flat Upper Midwest my entire life and swear I've owned cars where I never used my parking brake. I've just never found it to be necessary on a daily basis. I imagine the terrain in Florida is the same. I suppose one could argue that since it's there to use...why not? Can't argue that...except to say habits are hard to break; especially, when I don't see any real benefit when consistently parking on relatively level ground. The locking pawl on an automatic tranny is perfectly capable of holding a vehicle in such surroundings.

 

[koda2000]

Well..since the original poster solved his problem, I guess we can open up this thread to the use or don't use Parking Brake Debate.

I, for one, get what he's saying...and, I don't necessarily think it's a lack of common sense. I've lived in the relatively flat Upper Midwest my entire life and swear I've owned cars where I never used my parking brake. I've just never found it to be necessary on a daily basis. I imagine the terrain in Florida is the same. I suppose one could argue that since it's there to use...why not? Can't argue that...except to say habits are hard to break; especially, when I don't see any real benefit when consistently parking on relatively level ground. The locking pawl on an automatic tranny is perfectly capable of holding a vehicle in such surroundings.

I only use mine if I park on a hill. I try to make sure the parking brakes are working about once a month. While it's no longer referred to as an "emergency brake" in an emergency situation it's all you've got and it's better than nothing. If I park on any kind of a hill I apply the parking brake before putting the transmission in PARK so as to not put the load on the PARK pawl.

 

[lobo411]

The parking pawl won't save you if you only *think* you're in Park. The below was written in 1999, and it goes on to say that the scenario can happen on all transmission designs of the era. No idea if newer transmissions have figured out a way to prevent this, but I think not--this sounds similar to the way the Star Trek guy died recently.

Sanchez drove his truck into the corral and stopped to close the gate.   He mis-shifted into what he thought was Park, but what was actually an intermediate, “perched” position between Park and Reverse where the transmission was in “hydraulic neutral.”   Expert witnesses explained that hydraulic neutral exists at the intermediate positions between the denominated gears, Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and Low, where no gear is actually engaged.   Under this scenario, as Sanchez walked toward the gate, the gear shift slipped from the perched position of hydraulic neutral into Reverse and the truck started to roll backwards.   It caught Sanchez at or near the gate and slammed him up against it, trapping his right arm and knee.   He was pinned between the gate and the door pillar by the pressure the truck exerted while idling in Reverse.   Struggling to free himself, Sanchez severed an artery in his right arm and bled to death after 45 to 75 minutes.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-supreme-court/1092506.html

 

[chefduane]

I have always used my parking brake, just force of habit I guess. We lived in San Francisco for few years before moving to Texas and it's >imperative< that you use your parking brake AND know how to park on a hill, ie, wheels turned into curb whether facing uphill or downhill, and whether parking on the left or right side. You can always spot a tourist by the way they've parked on the hill.

 

[XLTrunner]

Growing up in Iowa, I remember being taught in Driver's Ed how to park on a hill. I also remember thinking..."what hills?" lol! To this day, I can probably count on two hands the number of times I had to park on a steep enough hill that required I apply the parking brake.

Koda brings up a good point whereas us older drivers remember when parking brakes were called Emergency Brakes. Unless you had a manual transmission, it was inferred that the Emergency Brake was basically to be used in case your regular brakes should fail...or, of course, when parking on a steep hill; which were mostly non-existent in my area. They were often problematic over time due to infrequent use due to the inherent rust and corrosion here in the Rust Belt. May sound ludicrous, but it wasn't uncommon at all to just cut the cables once they seized rather than spend the money to service something that wasn't deemed to be all that necessary.