Hi Guys,

My truck is a stock 2005 f-350 4x4 6.0L short box single wheel rear end. Thinking a Dana 80 though not sure.

I noted my truck started wandering on the highway and felt like a loose wheel or flat tire. I grabbed the top of my rear tire and shook the top in and out and noted some play in the wheel stemming from the differential. Both sides seem equally loose.

Any suggestions. bearings ect...

Thanks in advance

 

If you are talking about front axle, which is a Dana 60, then the problem is most likely ball joints and a common failure.

Play in the rear wheel would be caused by the wheel hub bearings, not the differential. Also, it is a Sterling (Ford) 10.5 axle.

 

Has any work been recently performed on the rear axle, rear brakes or rear tires?

I agree with cartmanea's diagnosis, just wondering how you got to that point.

 

Thanks for your speedy reply!

It is the rear axle I'm having issues with, I've had the truck for a year and no work has been done on the truck.

What does it take to fix the problem???

 

Are you sure there is slop and you aren't just seeing tire flex? Have you jacked up the rear end and tried wiggling the tire top and bottom by hand?

 

It is without a doubt slop.

 

you jacked the truck up and both rear wheels have a lot of play?

 

I jacked both back wheels off the ground and placing one hand on the bottom of the tire and one on the top there is movement and a clanging nosie while shaking it.

Hard to say how much movement but I can feel it. Now with that said is there movement in your diffs and is that normal?

Thanks for all your reply's

 

no doesnt sound normal. i would take the wheels off and inspect everything. check your u-bolts and make sure you dont have any broken leafs...if you find nothing then move onto taking the rear diff cover off and inspect.

 

Thanks for your help I'll have a look

 

To be honest I'm not sure why you'd be checking leaf springs and whatnot but okey dokey.

What you describe sounds like simple case of worn/loose wheel bearings. Grabbing the tire top and bottom and giving a wiggle is the classic "quick" test on wheel bearing slop. That isn't normal.

I'm not 100% clear on why you suspect a differential issue. If you are noticing a bit of slop when rotating the tire back and forth, that is normal, to a degree. Differentials have a built in backlash, which is just a fancy way of saying slop, and it's necessary to keep the gears from eating themselves. It's only thousandths when checked at the differential but when fealt out at the tire the slop feals magnified due to the diameter of the tire. You'll notice the same thing when twisting the driveshaft. A bit of slop in it in relation to how far it turns before it fetches up against the diff gears. Normal to a point.

I think you are on the right track with the wheel bearings and would start there before tearing into differentials or anything else.

 

Op stated truck was wandering at highway speeds. No harm in looking to see if there is anything broke...right?

 

Leaf springs and U bolts are fine. I will be checking wheel bearings first.

Thanks for your replys

 

How many miles are on the truck? I haven't really heard of any rear wheel bearings going bad.

 

I s'spose not, though if he had a busted main leaf and/or ubolts I'm guessing he'd be experiencing a bit more than just a bit of wander, and I still wouldn't be pulling apart the diff. Occam's Razor my friend. Otherwise known as KISS.


To the OP: Btw, given the wandering issue, it might not be a bad idea to check your front end components as well. Sloppy rear wheels might indeed indicate wheel bearing issues, but they aren't generally attributed to wandering. You may have two coincidental but separate issues.