Ugh. I am moving 1000+ miles on friday(towing a small boat) and my rear end is whining pretty loudly now at 35+mph.

I'm really in a bind here, I have never done any work on a rear end before and wouldn't even know where to start to try to diagnose it or repair anything. I guess I'm going to see if I can find a shop that will guarantee they can have it done in a few days at most.

If anyone has any advice at all, I'm all ears. What does whining usually indicate and what is the worst case scenario here.

This sucks.


1996 5.8L Bronco

 

I am almost 100% positive that its your U joint, its not an expensive job and shouldnt take your mechanic more than 2 hours to fix, I had the same problem not to long ago.

 

I've never heard a U-Joint "whine". They will "squeak" and "clunk", but a "whine" says rear end to me.

I would start by changing the gear lube. It could just be low, but if it's making noise it's already doing damage. Getting fresh gear lube in there could extend the life for a while though.

 

interesting. My truck 'whined' after 20 or so and a replaced U joint = no more whine

 

Well, I suppose different people have different names for noises. Wouldn't hurt to check the U-Joints too. They are cheap and easy to replace.

 

Bingo...99% of "Whines"...Are simply low gear oil......The teeth meshing in and out are the culprit....Which causes heat...which in turn causes a failure....

3/8" ratchet and pull the fill plug...On level ground, the oil inside should be level with the bottom of the hole...

 

My father's 1998 Exploder had such a problem, I think it was a pinion bearing.

Wasn't what I'd call a "whine" but, rather, a "bad noise."

 

9/10 whining is bearings. do the above suggested things, check fluid and u-joints, but most likely its the pinion bearing goin up. check pinion bearing by removing d-shaft from rear yoke and try to move pinion back and forth by hand. a leaky pinion seal can also be indicative of a worn bearing

 

This is one of the things I had to get used to when reading forums - sometimes there are lots of widely-disparate opinions.

In this case, one guy is saying 99% are caused by low gear oil, the other guy says 90% are bad bearings....

Take it for what it's worth, I guess....

Not trying to be critical or judgmental or anything, just stating an observation that took me a while to get used to....

 

low gear oil = bad bearings.

low oil by itself wont cause it to whine, you could drain all the fluid out and drive it around and it wont whine, but it wont be long before the bearings are destroyed. most people dont realize theyre low on fluid until their rears start making noise and they go back there to investigate. . .

adding more fluid, better fluid, or thicker fluid can quiet worn bearings back down to an acceptable level if the bearings arent too far gone. he, in essence, was making the exact same point.

 

Yep, low oil doesn't make any noise, its the bearings and/or gears destroying themselves due to lack of lubrication that makes the noise. Getting the proper amount of oil back in there can help save it for a while, but if it's making noise the damage has already been done.

I hear what he is saying though. Someone asks for help and they get 10 different answers, and everyone is always "99% sure" that their answer is the right one. Happens in just about every forum.

 

that was the point of checking the gear oil.....

 

Yeah, that's actually why I suggested changing the oil instead of just filling it up. If it's making noise, it's likely that there are metal shavings in the oil. It would be best to get all of that out of there so it doesn't cause any more damage, or at least keeps it to a minimum.

 

My rear gradually began whining over the years. Dad drove it for the first time in 4 years and commented on how loud the rear end was. I hadn't noticed because of a) gradually got louder, and b) too loud of music.

Anyway, pinion bearings were on their way out (play in the pinion flange) so I changed out all the bearings and crush sleeve in the rear end. The pinion bearing were the only ones that showed serious wear, but I had all the new ones there so I did all of them.
Now its super quiet.
I wasn't low on oil either. I think I caused crush sleeve failure by letting the tire spin, grab, spin, grab, spin, grab. Which hammers the crush sleeve. Eventually it crushed too much so the bearings had no pre-load, and they ate themselves.

 

I have a 1996 Ford Explorer XLT 4x 4 and I've been hearing a I called it a mudder tire sound until yesterday I had to go to town and then when I stopped and took off I heard a different sound. A more of a noise sound. Do you think I need grease in the rear end? I am a disabled girl and I'm scared to death now. I will not drive it until I get some good advise here as to what I can do and the expense of it? Thank you for your advise if you can help me!
Lakajin