Where can I get Axles

[Steve n Oklahoma]

My rear end needs to be rebuilt and my mechanic will not open and start the work unless he has axles at hand incase we need them....but he has not been able to locate the axles....1998 Explorer 5.0 xlt 2wd 4dr .....anyone know where I can get said axles???.....is there more info you need?, if so just hollar ...Cost of axles????
Steve n Oklahoma

 

[Dan Whitaker]

What do you mean by rebuilt?

Seals and outer bearings. Ring & pinion? Please elaborate.

 

[Steve n Oklahoma]

What do you mean by rebuilt?

Seals and outer bearings. Ring & pinion? Please elaborate.

I suppose pull the guts out and replace. .... I have a wineing noise coming from the rear end...been there since I can remember....I believe they are wanting to replace rings / pinions...possibly seals and outter bearings....I don't scrimp on my ex....but they will not open it up to start the work unless they have axles in hand just in case they have to replace them....total work with parts and axles they guesstimated @ $ 900....

 

[IZwack]

Highly unlikely that you've destroyed an axle shaft as we have ppl pushing 36 inch tires with this axle. I say go to another shop.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Steve n Oklahoma]

I will look into a rear end rebuild kit (if someone makes that) .....my axles I am sure are fine...just are extremely careful and want to ensure that if something is bad, they can fix on the spot and have no down time to me ....they are looking out for my interests...been using them for 15 years....they take care of all our autos and RV....

 

[Steve n Oklahoma]

I will look into a rear end rebuild kit (if someone makes that) .....my axles I am sure are fine...just are extremely careful and want to ensure that if something is bad, they can fix on the spot and have no down time to me ....they are looking out for my interests...been using them for 15 years....they take care of all our autos and RV....

What is required (parts) for a rear end rebuild? ..I am no mechanic, so I just want to know so I can purchase the parts needed.....
thanks in advance

steve

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I've never known a shop to want to order all the parts before the tear into what they are going to work on. If a dealership has to order a pert from their warehouse and don't use it they have to pay a restocking fee.

This guy may have been working on your vehicles for 15 years but this doesn't mean he is honest. It sounds like he is going to replace everything rather it needs it or not.

I replaced the rear seals and outer bearings on my '97 Mountaineer in May with 216k on it and the axles were fine.

Your mechanic can order the axles from Ford but be warned they will most likely run you $200-250 a side.

This is the cheapest place to order Ford parts. They are a dealership in Texas. I have ordered several things from them. With shipping it was less than what my local dealership wanted.

Here is a link to the axles.
http://www.trademotion.com/partloca...ke=23&model=Mountaineer&year=1997&catalogid=1

I can see that $900 guesstimate becoming $1500 actual real fast.

 

[71cutty455]

Wouldn't it be easier just to replace the entire rearend with a used or junkyard unit? You could probably find one for $150-200, there are plenty of them out there.

 

[IZwack]

Wouldn't it be easier just to replace the entire rearend with a used or junkyard unit? You could probably find one for $150-200, there are plenty of them out there.

Yes but there's an uncertainity there because you dont know how long that replacement axle will last since it is a "used" axle.

 

[71cutty455]

Yes but there's an uncertainity there because you dont know how long that replacement axle will last since it is a "used" axle.

Right but weighing the price of the rebuild vs. the cost of a used rear and the chance it may go out I wouldn't hesitate to put a used rear in it. The 8.8 rear is very tough and more often than not it will probably outlive the rest of the vehicle as long as it is not abused. The last time I went to one of the junkyards near me (approx 6 mths ago) there were at least 10 explorers/mountaineers with the rearends still in them. Pick the cleanest, lowest mileage one and yank the rear....

 

[IZwack]

...it will probably outlive the rest of the vehicle as long as it is not abused.

Obviously that's not the case in this situation (since the original poster described a hum) and more often than not, we see the 8.8 axle suffer from symptoms associated with a loose pinion at around 100k miles. I'm not saying all 8.8s will need an axle rebuild at 100k times and obviously there are vehicles on the forum that have far more mileave but 100k miles is probably a good average.

 

[Maniak]

EricAutoPart, an EF vender is who I've bought axle shafts from.. He also has gears, bearings and install kits..

They are located in NJ, IIRC. but they do ship.

~Mark

 

[71cutty455]

Obviously that's not the case in this situation (since the original poster described a hum) and more often than not, we see the 8.8 axle suffer from symptoms associated with a loose pinion at around 100k miles. I'm not saying all 8.8s will need an axle rebuild at 100k times and obviously there are vehicles on the forum that have far more mileave but 100k miles is probably a good average.

LOL, they go out at 100k on average??? I doubt that figure. While we may hear about the occasional failure on this forum think of how many Explorer's are actually out there? MILLIONS of them were sold. I'm sure the large majority of them have never had and never will have a rear end failure by the time the vehicle has reached the end of it's useful life. And who's to say his rearend was not abused at some time in it's life? But hey I was just providing my opinion and trying to advise of another option. It's that man's money and he can spend it as he pleases.

 

[IZwack]

LOL, they go out at 100k on average??? I doubt that figure. While we may hear about the occasional failure on this forum think of how many Explorer's are actually out there? MILLIONS of them were sold. I'm sure the large majority of them have never had and never will have a rear end failure by the time the vehicle has reached the end of it's useful life. And who's to say his rearend was not abused at some time in it's life? But hey I was just providing my opinion and trying to advise of another option. It's that man's money and he can spend it as he pleases.

Yes there are millions of Explorers out there but since we see the loose pinion problem every now and then, thats a pretty good sample from the general population to conclude that the problem is significant. The same can be said about the 4.0L's transmission - especially the first generation (91-94).

Here is an example of an Explorer that ate its pinion teeth right at 100k.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206436
There are many more similar threads but that is just one that I had on my email.

And yes, I also suggested to go with a used rear axle. But I've grown up since then and to me and the vehicle is daily driven, I would rather spend the few hundred now and get it rebuilt than to spend $200 on a used rear axle and have that granade on some trip hundreds of miles away from home. But you are right, ultimately it is the owner's decision.

 

[99ex22]

FYI I have a used axle I pulled out of a explorer at the junk yard for 100.00. I opened the diff cover to make sure the gears were ok before I removed it and everything looked good. I put it in mine, sold my old 8.8 that had the "hum" (which is more than likely your pinion bearing if it's at all speeds) for 80.00 on craigslist (all the jeepers want them) so it only cost me 20.00 and few hours of my time rather than 1000.00 to have it rebuilt. Also most junk yards have a 30 day warranty on drivetrain parts...

 

[71cutty455]

Yes there are millions of Explorers out there but since we see the loose pinion problem every now and then, thats a pretty good sample from the general population to conclude that the problem is significant. The same can be said about the 4.0L's transmission - especially the first generation (91-94).

Here is an example of an Explorer that ate its pinion teeth right at 100k.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206436
There are many more similar threads but that is just one that I had on my email.

And yes, I also suggested to go with a used rear axle. But I've grown up since then and to me and the vehicle is daily driven, I would rather spend the few hundred now and get it rebuilt than to spend $200 on a used rear axle and have that granade on some trip hundreds of miles away from home. But you are right, ultimately it is the owner's decision.

LOL I've got a feeling neither of us are gonna back down...

As far as sample size let's look at it this way - There are over 100,000 members of this forum and there have been over 200,000 threads. I know by far most users are not active posters but when people do post it is normally because they have a problem. There would have to be 1,000 rearend failures out of those 100,000+ members for it to even equal 1% with rearend problems. I'm sure there have been nowhere near that many rearend issues. Take a minute to glance through the transmission/rearend forum, it would probably take quite a while to come up with 10 people that have had theirs fail, let alone 1,000. That's far from "significant". Also when rearends fail they typically do it slowly and with some indication such as a weird sound, vibration, etc. like this poster's did as opposed to "grenading" (at least during normal driving) so the concern over being stranded hundreds of miles from home shouldn't be much of concern. He's been driving forever with this one failing.

Also keep in mind members of forums such as this are typically enthusiasts that would are probably harder on their vehicles than the general public. The average person isn't taking their Explorer off-roading or installing Torque-monster headers, Cold-air kits, performance exhausts, etc. to go faster like we are, all of that is going to be harder on the rear. Even if 1% of us had a rearend failure that would likely be a little higher than what most people would experience.

Forums like this can skew your view on the prevalence of problems because all you see are the problems, problems, problems. Most people only post when they have a problem. What you won't find posted are the 99+% of owners that have NOT had rearend problems, no one starts a thread titled "Hey guys, I just wanted to let you my rearend still works great!!!".

Just to let you know I am right at 130k and drive much harder than the average person and knock on wood mine is doing great.

With that said it doesn't look like the original poster is a DIYer like a lot of us are so getting it rebuilt could very well be better option for him if he can't swap one in himself, that doesn't mean swapping in a used one is the wrong answer for most people though.

 

[Steve n Oklahoma]

I've never known a shop to want to order all the parts before the tear into what they are going to work on. If a dealership has to order a pert from their warehouse and don't use it they have to pay a restocking fee.

This guy may have been working on your vehicles for 15 years but this doesn't mean he is honest. It sounds like he is going to replace everything rather it needs it or not.

I replaced the rear seals and outer bearings on my '97 Mountaineer in May with 216k on it and the axles were fine.

Your mechanic can order the axles from Ford but be warned they will most likely run you $200-250 a side.

This is the cheapest place to order Ford parts. They are a dealership in Texas. I have ordered several things from them. With shipping it was less than what my local dealership wanted.

Here is a link to the axles.
http://www.trademotion.com/partloca...ke=23&model=Mountaineer&year=1997&catalogid=1

I can see that $900 guesstimate becoming $1500 actual real fast.

I can see where alot of people would think the same thing ....but in my case, I have to have my vehicle on a daily basis. I can go without during the day, but have to have it back that evening....so if he has everything he needs there, then there is no delay with getting my ex back to me...like having to have something shipped from Sherman Texas (Bob Utter Ford) ...My Mechanic knows this...that is also why in most all cases, I purchase all my parts and deliver to him/his shop @ 8am with my vehicle....I always get it back the same day...NO overnights.....fortunately for me, his shop is as honest as the day is long....but now that I have read all these posts, I am just going to get the parts they will need and make an appt for the work (without axles)....
steve n oklahoma

 

[IZwack]

LOL I've got a feeling neither of us are gonna back down...

Simple, I will. G'day.

 

[Steve n Oklahoma]

ok...so since my axles are probably in great shape....what parts are required/needed for a rebuild on the read end? ... You are right...I am not a DIYr mechanic....unfortunatnely I am not blessed with those abilities....(besides with Rhumatoid Arthritis I can't work my hands that well anyway....would probably just get in my way!..haha)....Pinions/bearings??? I want to go to my local Autozone and buy the parts.. Also I do appreciate all the fantastic info...I never knew I had an 8.8 rear end (don't know the diff anyway, haha...but it's good to know all you can about your vehicle)...I will see about getting pics today and post them....
Steve n Oklahoma

 

[Dan Whitaker]

ok...so since my axles are probably in great shape....what parts are required/needed for a rebuild on the read end? ... You are right...I am not a DIYr mechanic....unfortunatnely I am not blessed with those abilities....(besides with Rhumatoid Arthritis I can't work my hands that well anyway....would probably just get in my way!..haha)....Pinions/bearings??? I want to go to my local Autozone and buy the parts.. Also I do appreciate all the fantastic info...I never knew I had an 8.8 rear end (don't know the diff anyway, haha...but it's good to know all you can about your vehicle)...I will see about getting pics today and post them....
Steve n Oklahoma

I doubt you can get the ring & pinion from Autozone. Even if you can I wouldn't. Look for places local that specialize in drive line parts.

For bearings you want Timken and nothing else. If you have a limited slip diff you will need friction modifier (Ford dealer is your best bet) and you will need 75-140 synthetic diff lube. 75-90 will work but if you tow or see heavy use go with 75-140.