Rear Diff Help

[Duranged84]

03 Explorer 4 door, 2wd 4.0, 3.55 rear end no traction control. Bought this truck in Feb this year, rear was whineing, over the months and 20k some miles its obviously gotten much worse. Checked fluid bout a month ago, was full but nasty and fill plug had a lot of shavings on it. Last few weeks its gotten louder and louder, starting from about 5 mph, and now vibrating at highway speed and now growling when letting off the gas and coasting. Low speed driving it sounds almost like brake pads scraping, but rear pads look new and wheel bearings seem tight. Just passed safety inspection where they check for things like bad wheel bearings ball joints and stuff. So is the grinding/scraping coming from the diff or possibly the emergency brake shoes?

I picked up a used diff from salvage yesterday but dont really have a place to do the work and off work right now so moneys tight. Dont have my ramps and jackstands and the axle sockets with me. I want to just get it changed out so I can make sure this new diff they sold me was good while I have plenty of warranty left. New one came from an 04, looks like it could use the axle seals but none of the parts stores around here can seem to find the seals, so I guess its off to ford for more expensive crap.

At this point, does anyone think itd do any good to do a drain and fill on the current rear end, get some fresh fluid in it and baby it along a few weeks or so or will it just be a waste of fluid? Im thinking maybe 85/140?

 

[Nevea'sExplorer]

If you've already changed the fluid and found shavings on the drain plug then trying to flush differential to "buy" more time seems like a waste of fluid. Swap our the differential and be done with it.

 

[boominXplorer]

If a rear end is growling it's not going to last long, but the wheel bearing can omit a wild growl even at low speeds and feel tight. I had an 04 that whined at highway speeds and growled all the way from 10 mph+. I rebuilt the diff (found chewed up carrier bearings) and it STILL had the growl. 2 new wheel bearings and all was quiet.

 

[CatDaddy52]

Might want to double check for compatibility.......IIRC, 03 had ABS tone ring in the diff, where 04 had individual ABS sensors at the wheels due to introduction of traction control.

 

[Duranged84]

New Diff has the abs sensor on the top of the diff. Just mainly need a place to do the work really. Dont have a flat enough spot in my yards and no jack stands right now.