I just took my 2004 Scab 4X4 Lariat in for warranty work at 10,000 miles on a howling noise coming from the rear end between 45 and 60 mph. The noise goes away if I let off the accelerator but returns if I'm at steady speed or accelerating between 45 and 60 mph. After 60 mph, the noise fades away. They called me today and said that they had replaced a pinion ring and gear but found a vibration under load when testing it out. They said the parts they had put in were bad (teeth were too high?) which was causing the vibration so they ordered new parts and they should be here tomorrow. I didn't have a vibration before I took it in so I hope they get that worked out. I'll let you guys know how it turns out when I hear.

Greg

 

I had the same thing happen to my 04 F150 at around 6000 miles. They replaced the ring and pinion gears, but I'm just under 10,000 miles and it's starting to come back. Happens from about 68-785 MPH, right where I drive most of the time. The service guys at the dealer don't have a straight answer, either. One said Ford was working on a fix, another said it was normal (which is BS). Needless to say, I'm not happy about.

Have other people on the list had this problem?

 

I have no trouble with the rear in my 04, yet.. A friend of mine is the head mechanic at my Ford dealership, he told me they are having a large amount of problems with rears making noise, 02-03-& 04s... They don't rebuild them or replace parts, they put entire new rear in (warranty)..FYI

 

If mine comes back they'll have to replace the whole rear end. I wouldn't stop until it happened. You shouldn't either!

 

I know this is dealing with a 2003 Ford F150 SCrew, 3.55LS, Lariate but.... I took mine into the Ford dealer a couple of weeks ago. The noise coming from the rear end was horrible around 35-55 mph. The Ford dealer's maintenance manager took it out for a test drive and it they decided it was bad enough to get fixed. They rebuilt the rear end and put on a new updated drive shaft. I've driven it now for several hundred miles and the noise seems to have gone away. Let's hope it stays this way.
Mudslide
2003 Ford F150 Lariate SCrew, 3.55LS

 

Well it's been in the shop for a week now and I talk to the service manager today. She said that Ford keeps sending bad parts to the dealership and she has a call in to Ford to find out why. They got several of the pinion ring and gears in that had broken teeth! Ford definitely has a quality problem going on that they need to address. Will tell more when I know more.

 

I have 2004 SCREW LARIAT with a whine in the rear end from 45 to 60 mph dealer says that ford is working on a fix have been waiting for 6mo 10500 miles truck built in kc 2/04 same problem as you i stop at the dealer every week no joy

 

hello, same here and they replaced ring and pinions in my 2004 f-150 screw lariat about 3 months ago, at 9,000 miles. now i have 10,700 miles on it and now it feels like it is slipping or the transmission is. i have to take it back and let them take another look at it. this is the 2nd. ford i've owned in 2 years and i've haved alot of head aches with the first one and traded it in on this one. i love the truck, but $38,000. is alot to have all these problems. if they can't fix the problems they should lower the prices. if you have to pay for gold, you should get gold.

 

Same Whine here. Local dealer has ordered ring and pinion gear, we'll let you know what happens....SCEW 2wd 3.73 limited slip....

 

Thought it was my imagination, will get mine into the dealer soon!!

 

Okay my truck has been in the shop for over a week. Guess why? The dealer said they got 4 different sets of pinion gears and they were ALL BAD. They had a call in to Ford to find out why and they hadn't heard back from them yet. Well she called today to tell me that there is a NEW SET out now and they were trying to get one for me. So that's what I'm waiting on.

I wonder if the new set might help the guys with the vibration problem?

 

My truck 2004 4x2 lariat screw has had 3 ring and pinion gears and a 1 whole rearend assembly. Never was fixed still does it. Ford said to wait because there was a fix on the way. Ford calls and the dealer says bring it in the fix is ready (5 months later) its been in the shop for a week they put 2 new ring and pinion sets in and the said neither has fixed it they are on the ford hot line to figure out what to do next as my truck sits. It has whined since almost day one. I told them that It may be time to look at a buy back because we are running out of options.

 

so the 02+ explorers arent the only ones with the whining rear end...i just have to tell everyone to be patient...I had my whine for a long time and always thought it was normal until i started reading about it on this site from other explorer owners...it just so happened that when i brought mine in to get checked out ford had a redesigned out out..it took about 2 years for them to redesign it but I have been driving since june with the new rear end with no problems at all. Hang in there, Ford is a little slow but they will get it right...Makes me wonder if ford forgot how to build regular parts with all the redesigning they are doing

 

I have the same problem and heard We're not alone. good luck getting it fixed
so far mine is still bad. Has anyone had any good results??

 

I to had the dreaded rear end whine. First repair was replace ring and pionon gears. As soon as i drove off of dealership lot it was back. Second visit they said ford has no fix and to wait 2 months. I said this is bs and took truck home. I was trying to give ford a chance to find a fix. I waited 1 month and called dealer back and demanded a whole new rear end to my suprise they said lets do it. They ordered new rear and installed it in 1 day. I've driven over 2000 miles so far still quiet. From what I've found out its pretty much a crap shoot to get a bad rear end. The vendor who makes these rear end is using poor quality parts. FORDGUY demand a whole new rear end your truck has been in the shop way to long. Hope this helps. Good luck P.S 2004 5.4 kansasplant builddate 0204 355 limited slip screw