Chewbaca is hiding in my ranger..

[Derek The Great]

On the road again..

Alright heres the update!
The rear end wasn't ready last week but was by this past thursday. Apparently someone was in the rear end before and hacked up the pin holding the spider gears together. That hack job was corrected and new bearings were put in throughout the entire rear.. The truck has been dormant at my buddies place and he put the rear end in place for me that thursday night Well friday night I put the rest of it back together, my otherfriend stopped by and helped with the driveshaft and passenger side drum brake. (gettin that hook into the self adjuster thing sucked big ) Because i had so much time, I pretreated & powder coated my drums with Akzo Nobel's PN137Q, a mid gloss black. (my job has some neat perks ). After the finishing touches were finished, the truck hit the road aaaand... The noise is still there, taunting me, as if to say

Here's a list of what has been replaced/repaired in the process:
-New front rotors
-New bearings for said rotors
-New brake bads (front & rear)
-Rebuilt rear brakes with kit and new wheel cylinders + new drums
-Had rear end rebuilt with new bearings
-Rotated the tires
That stuff was R n R'd during this issue, all together this year i've done all of that plus:
-New clutch (with new clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder)
-Spark plugs n wires
-Coolant flush
-R 'n R A/C system
-Changed Trans fluid

After driving for a couple of days I put the rear end up on jackstands and got it goin in 4th between 35 & 45 mph, where it likes to make the noise. It was noisy alright, and revvin up the engine in neutral with the clutch out didnt produce any noise, only when in a gear at speed was anything audible. So after chatting up my buds we think the problem is either the carrier bearing for the driveshaft, or the output shaft bearing for the trans. The noise is like metal to metal rubbing/grinding, and can be loud or soft, and sometimes produces light vibrations.. I'm happy to have it back on the road though
What do you guys think??

Derek

 

[rat_ranger]

i would say its time for a 1 piece driveshaft from the junkyard. no carrier bearing to worry about.


is the vibration in any gear at that speed or is it in specific gears?

i would say try taking the driveshaft off, but that would get fluid everywhere.

 

[Derek The Great]

Not sure if they made a one piece driveshaft, but if i put one on, now the angle between the trans and rear end is greater, which means i'll chew through u-joints faster I only used 3rd and 4th, but the noise could be heard in either gear. Lately its not as loud as it has been but that doesnt mean its no big deal.

 

[Danger06Ranger]

I have a one piece, I just don't recall what year Ford started using them. It was at least 98.

Edit:
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/June04/offroad.htm

 

[Derek The Great]

U have an ext cab? Id have to do away with the whole mount and buy another driveshaft.. I'll check pricing on a new carrier bearing in a couple of weeks, if the dam thing lasts that long, bc i jus dont have the cash ne more.

 

[gotmud?]

lol mine made the same noise and i thought it was my front spindles or bearing so i lifted it up no noise from the front but i spun the back tires and i heard it comin from the rear of the tranny i said shit not the rear gears goin out......so i lifted it the rest of the way up and to my amazement a piece of sheet metal that goes around the gastank some how peeled back and was barely hitting my drive shaft ripped it off and no noise boy was i happy as hell....



but good luck and like they said b4 make sure nuthin is rubbin..

 

[PlumCrazy]

I'm sure after all of this you would have already noticed this, but on my older ranger the exhuast hangers rusted out and the muffler would rub on the drive shaft making a pretty nasty noise.

 

[birdmanslopy]

lol mine made the same noise and i thought it was my front spindles or bearing so i lifted it up no noise from the front but i spun the back tires and i heard it comin from the rear of the tranny i said shit not the rear gears goin out......so i lifted it the rest of the way up and to my amazement a piece of sheet metal that goes around the gastank some how peeled back and was barely hitting my drive shaft ripped it off and no noise boy was i happy as hell....



but good luck and like they said b4 make sure nuthin is rubbin..

same thing happened to me!! but that was from the crossmember being backwards and putting a akward angle on the drive shaft making the whole thing sit lop sided.
i seen the metal and found out the x member was backwards and fixed that. felt like a dummy but oh well, only thing i ruined was a transmission mount from it being sideways

 

[Madracingalley]

O-O-O-O-Oooo it's a carrier bearing!!! I JUST HAD THIS ISSUE!!!!! definatly fun! driving to school when all of a sudden. CHUBACA. the ball bearings in the carrier bearing were GONE. now that thats replaced there are absolutly NO NOISES, now to deal with the clutch and the ball joints.