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Rear Noise While Turning on '92

Hi.

While making tight turns on pavement (such as in a parking lot) I am getting a sort of grinding sound that seems to be coming from the rear wheels or axles. It also feels kinda loose or funny and the truck seems to jerk sideways a little bit. It's almost as if I was driving in 4WD on pavement but it's the rear, not the front that's doing it. There is a little bit of play on the axle shafts (1/32 inch perhaps) and I've read that this is normal. I could not find any old posts concerning rear wheel bearings. Could this be my problem? I also read about the TSB for companion flanges and I may have that problem too but it didn't describe the grinding sound or looseness. Any suggestions on what to look at? Hayne's describes how to check the front wheel bearings for play but I couldn't find any info on the rear ones. Would a worn differential cause this?

Thanks.

Reply to
Ulysses
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Was the rear axle grease changed recently? Has the level of the grease been checked? If it's a limited slip rear axle the first thing that comes to my mind is that the clutch pack is binding up, either due to not having the "additive" added to the grease after a change, or just lack of grease due to a leak.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Thanks, that makes sense. After only an hour and a half of scraping off dried mud I located the plug and checked the level and it was indeed low. The second row of numbers on the tag are: 3L73 8 8 **** (from memory). I'm guessing this means it's a 3:73 ratio and the "L" stands for limited slip but I have not yet found the info to verify that (searching now) so I'll know if I'm supposed to add the Ford Limited Slip additive. It's an EB so I figure that if the limited slip was an option it's more likely to have it than not. I'm also guessing that the "8 8" is the diameter of the gear. When I changed the oil on my old '78 F350 I'm pretty sure it said somewhere that the limited slip differentials had an "L" in the number. I'm also beginning to find out about the limitations of my Hayne's manual.

Reply to
Ulysses

My code list shows

41 Conventional 3.27 43 Conventional 3.08 45 Conventional 3.55

D4 Limited-Slip 3.73

46 Conventional 3.73

D1 Limited-Slip 3.27

42 Conventional 4.10

D2 Limited-Slip 4.10

and it should be shown on the drivers door tag under "axle".

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Thanks a lot! I have D4s on all 3 of my Explorers. I was sure I had these codes written down somewhere if only I could find it...

Reply to
Ulysses

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