Couple of questions, as I'm a bit out of practice. First, and most immediate, I took a short drive today and it started making an odd noise. At first I thought it was a u-joint, but from a quick glance they look OK. At least, they're not about to fall out. I'm going to be putting it up and check it all out later. Another person who is a mechanic suggested the rear brakes (drum) may have a screwey self-adjuster. Looking at the TSB section on here, I also noted that there is one for a similar problem that states that there may be inadequate lubrication of the slip yoke. Can I just use a moly-based grease on it, or is there actually something special about the Ford grease?

Second, it keeps eating right-front pads. Now, over the years, I have noticed that every Ford product I have ever driven has had, for some reason that is beyond me, a tendency to lock the right front wheel first. The metal line on that brake hose WAS tweaked, but I replaced both front hoses and put a new caliper on the R/F; however, it is now going to get it's third set of pads in ~7,000 miles (though the second set was due to the tweaked line not releasing the caliper) Anyone have any idea what's up with that? It is a rear-wheel ABS system, is it possible that the proportioning valve is screwed?

Third, and this is just for kicks, I'm thinking of either rebuilding the 4.2 with a few performance upgrades, or replacing it with a nice 5.0 (the old one) and de-computerizing the thing; won't have much use for a computer with an aftermarket carb! IF I go the small-block route, A) has anyone ever done anything similar, and B) does Ford use a separate computer for the trans? And what about the lock-up switch for the converter? If I decide to keep the V-6, has anyone ever done one up for performance? If so, is it another Mod Motor or a stand-alone design? I ask because I once made the mistake of rebuilding a 4.6, and swore I would never touch another Ford Mod Motor again!

Thanks for any advice and/or tips y'all can give me.