A little problem in the rear.

[98bluevert]

Alright, who know's about rearends because i don't know jack squat about them and i have a problem,

Sounds like a loud clunk or popping noise when going from reverse to 1st or vise versa. kinda like a u joint going out.

so i jack up the car, dropped the driveshaft, had the e-brake on and tried to turn the pinion. guess what....IT MOVED!!! not just a little like your suppose to have but like a couple degrees worth. Does anyone no what it might be

i had the gears installed a couple years ago and had all the bearing and seals replaced at the same time.

Its not a daily driver anymore, and there is less than 10,000 miles on the gears.

i have plenty of time to work on it and figure it out but help would be much appreciated

 

[Red2000GT]

That happened when my pinion bearing was on the way out. Had what seemed like excessive lash in the pinion that turned out be the whole pinion shaft moving around letting it turn more than it should. This was with less than 1000 miles on the bearing.

 

[98bluevert]

ya thats what i thought it felt like to much backlash. how can i check this, does the carrier have to come out to replace the pinion bearing, also how do u know if the carrier is shimmed properly.

getting ready to tear into it this weekend and just need some pointers.

If i do need to pull out the carrier how do i get the S clip out of the traction loc. I have heard there is a special tool but i think only ford has them.

 

[MBDiagMan]

Well, you will have some slack when turning the pinion and that is normal.

Did you check your u-joints and all mountings including the rear axle?

You do not have to remove the carrier to change the pinion bearing, but don't get the cart in front of the horse. After checking EVERYTHING ELSE, remove the axle cover and check the backlash with a dial indicator. If you then know that you have excessive backlash, inspect and find the reason.

A "clunk" as you describe is rarely caused by excessive backlash. It is more commonly caused by u-joints, driveshaft carrier bearings or mounts (in the case of a two piece driveshaft, a bad transmission mount, loose axle mounting and the like. Do not remove the axle cover until you have checked all these things.

 

[BooWFO]

Of course it could be something as simple as the DS bolts were loose.


BTW I vote this thread title for his CT.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

+1 thread title for CT...

Did you mark the driveshaft before you removed it? If not now you will have a clunk AND a vibration. If you get vibration from DS unbolt it and rotate 90 degrees until it goes away. Best to mark it when disconnecting to avoid this.

It is normal to have a little (ok a lot) of drivetrain slop.