Chunked my rear end.... :(

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Oct 22, 2002
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Republic, MO
Well, the strange pulling in the rear when it got hot and on corners finally got the car tore down. Thank god I was finally able to move to a house with a garage!

My buddy, a Ford mechanic, came over and we started with the rotors and axles. He didn't get a chance to actually hear the car before we tore into it. He's been away either on vacation or out of town during winter break. It was raining and starting to snow when we started.

My OTHER friends were sure it was a Axle Bearing or just a brake calipur as it seemed to only be on the drivers side. So that's what we were looking for. Everything looked okay. We looked in the rear quickly... no metal shavings, but there was a bit of moisture. Car has sat for 2 months though.

He changed out the rotors put everything back together. Drove it. Didn't sound too bad at all. So he assumed they were right and that it was a rear warped rotor that was causing problems. He ran home to get cleaned up. I ran the car around for 20 minutes or so. Cold as hell, but not raining or snowing that day, nothing on the streets.

After about 20 minutes I came back to the driveway, and clunk, clunk. Fuak, it's still doing it. When it got warmed up and I turned it would grab.

Buddy came back over.... this time he drove. We took the rear seat out to hear better. Took a while before we heard anything. Then a whirring noise. A turn in a driveway confirmed the clunk, clunk. Hummm.

Headed back home. It got worse and worse and worse. We finally babied it in the garage. There is definate Grinding and Teeth mashing now! :bang: :bang:

We're hopefully looking at it tonight. I'll post pics of the tear down this time. UGH. I hope my 3.73s made it. We didn't drive it much at all, and he hopes its just the spider gears. Anyone know what those cost???? He didn't want to misquote it and send me into shock. LOL
 
Spider gears in the posi should come as a part in the posi rebuild kit from Ford, and if they don't, you can always buy them and I don't think the price would be too awful bad. My guess would be that it is a busted tooth on the ring gear or a bent axle. I would tend to lean more towards the bent axle because when the axle bends the first inclination of it is the brake caliper and brake problems associated with the bent axle. Some people bend them just slighty to where the car will still drive but the brakes get hot as a mofo. Good luck.

Joe
 
The first thing you should ever do when your rear makes noise is to put fluid in it. It may no have a sufficient amount in it and that is what is causing the noise. What kind of noise is it? Whining?

Joe
 
We actually checked the axles on the first go round... that's doesn't appear to be the problem unless the bend is VERY slight. Tires don't wobble and the axles "visually" appeared okay. Haven't opened the rear up again yet, but we will soon. There is definate carniage in there. :nonono: I just hope if it is a Spider gear, it doesn't tear up any teeth on the Ring and Pinion gears. :bang:

Do you recommend just rebuilding the rear posi? Or go ahead and order an after market?

Joes95GT said:
Spider gears in the posi should come as a part in the posi rebuild kit from Ford, and if they don't, you can always buy them and I don't think the price would be too awful bad. My guess would be that it is a busted tooth on the ring gear or a bent axle. I would tend to lean more towards the bent axle because when the axle bends the first inclination of it is the brake caliper and brake problems associated with the bent axle. Some people bend them just slighty to where the car will still drive but the brakes get hot as a mofo. Good luck.

Joe
 
If you wanted to do it bulletproof, so you wouldn't have any problems with it, I would order an aftermarket posi and aftermarket axles. It starts to get ugly when you look at prices though. 400 for the differential and 250 for the axles (I think). You can't mix and match rearend parts. You currently have 28 spline axles and a 28 spline posi. I've heard A LOT of complaints about aftermarket 28 spline axles and 28 spline differentials. The problem is you have to use 28's with 28's and 31's with 31's. So if you were to buy a "good", new posi, you should buy a 31 spline unit, but you would need to upgrade the axles as well. All this equals $$$. Get the problem assessed first, and then we can discuss options. If you have 600 bucks to spend on parts, I say go for the 31 spline diff and axles.

Joe
 
I don't think it was an axle and the brakes... my buddy ripped it apart again. NO METAL SHAVINGS, but the rear was tight as hell. The front pinion bearing was BLUE, and my clutch packs were GONE... metal to metal.

Here's a BIG pic of when we took the cover off:
http://www.100mphclub.com/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=208

Here's the posi rebuilt waiting to go back in:
http://www.100mphclub.com/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=223

Waiting to go here:
http://www.100mphclub.com/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=209

We are replacing EVERY bearing in the whole thing plus axle bearings.... that was over $100 with his discount at O'Reillys. UGH.
 
Oh, the REASON we don't think it was the axles other than they looked okay... we had the brakes completely removed and the drive line out. It turned, then would bind up still. I'll let you know more as we figure it out. Hopefully Sunday....
 
If money is of little concern go all out buy a 9inch and never worry about your rear again, it would handle as much power as you would ever want to put through it and its quick for changing gear ratios at the track. :D