95 F350, 98,000, 4sp aod, factory auto hubs. Ok I was coming home last nite after driving 50-60 miles at highway speed with no noise or vibrations. (I had to put it in 4wd to get out of the drive that morning, but seemed to be in 2wd as I drove to work.) When I slowed to about 40 mph a loud gear growling/whining noise started and as I slowed it got quieter until at about 10mph then it made a loud bang. The end. The truck drove perfectly fine after that, no noise, no vibrations, nothing. A couple of weeks ago it made the same banging noise as I was turning in a parking lot, but without the whining noise. I have been having trouble getting the axles to disengage after I put it in 2wd. Is it the axles coming unlocked? I know that the first thing I should do is put manual hubs, but I would like to know what the problem is before I start throwing parts at it. The AOD tranny has been a little out of whack since the first day I have owned it, had 91000 when I purchased. When you go down the road in OD and let off the throttle the rpms drop significantly, I have been told the coast clutch is probably bad. Could this be a tranny problem? Any ideas would be greatly apprecieted.

 

Your auto hubs probably shattered. I'd be sure to check them before you go much further and are replacing bearings and spindles too.

 

Wouldn't there be some noise coming from them while driving? After the first time it happened, I have used 4wd several times with no indication it was not working. If it did not work, I would not have been able to go in and out my drive. Since the second time, I only drove 1.5 miles to get home and havent moved it since.