Let me first state that im an import guy ive been working on hondas for the past 7 years, everything you can think of, ive done it on a honda.

but of course if you work on any car, family assumes you can get them a deal on their cars. i didnt want to work on a vehicle im not experienced with. but here i am under an expedition

Moms got a 2000 ford expedition 2wd. 40,000 miles was complaining about noise. i got in it drove it down the block and heard what she was trying to explain. the noise was coming from the rear end, no matter how fast you go or dont go its, there, the repitition does increase and decrease with speed. ask her how long its been doing it, "couple weeks i think" figures huh

i popped the diff cover, and low and behold, i found the culprit, or so i thought, the spider gears were all worn and pitted, so i got a new set from ford, along with new wheel bearings and axle oil seals, just for good measure. i also bought a new pinion shaft along with the bolt for the shaft since it was recommended.

after i installed all the new parts... i got in and made sure i fixed the vibration. ITS STILL THERE. so a few smokes later i decided to jack it up again put it on stands, and put the thing in drive and watched the rear wheels. WHOA! thats not good....

the passenger side wheel was wobbling quite bad, like it had a bad wheel bearing, but its brand new, the driver side wobbled a little but not nearly as bad as the other.


So now what? ive installed new spider gears and bearings, set of 4 of each. and pinion shaft (or thats what ford calls it... it goes through the carrier and 2 of the gears and keep those MARVEL OF TECHNOLOGICAL ACHEIVEMENT C-CLIPS in so the axles dont come out (sorry about the sarcasim... i just cant believe they would use those things)) new wheel bearings and new seals...

?? is there a bearing i can replace that the carrier sits in, or does it just ride in the axle housing? im about to go buy a new carrier and install that too, but im afraid the problem might lie elsewhere.

ive checked the u-joint, stiff like it should be, ring and pinion gears dont look worn too bad, no missing teeth or anything ( only 40,000 miles on the car)

im trying to save the parents some money so im doing this for free, but its turinging out to be a problem that i wish i didnt offer my help.

 

This may be stupid but here goes - did she just lose a balance weight on the passenger side wheel? Maybe a re-balance before going further with the axle.

 

this is a very loud vibration, like theres a blackhawk chopper hiding somewhere under the back of the car... happens at all speeds, just gets louder and louder the faster you go


the caliper on the passenger side glides back and forth at least 1/4 inch to a half inch while the wheel was turning up on stands


i highly doubt this is a balance problem. wobble of the wheel is very very noticeble

 

unless of course its a design flaw that a balance problem would allow the wheel to wobble as much as it does. but i surely hope not, that would require a lot of play in the rear axle, enough play to make me tell my mom she isnt allowed to drive this car ever again because i fear for her life.. like the c-clips dont already scare me enough

sorry again for that, i just dont get it. and of course the haynes manual didnt help at all, paid 15 bucks for it and i rip off the plastic when i get home, open up to this part of the book and says to leave anything in there to the professionals.

i guess what im asking is:

is there a bearing that the carrier sits in? not just the axle housing (im hoping for a yes here)

does it sound like the carrier has lived past its prime and should be replaced, or maybe the axle housing is bent... Ive been told that no one has hit anything at all not even a pot hole. so anything getting bent is highly unlikely

 

That caliper should be un-movable should it not?

 

Pinion shaft? You mean the one for the ring and pinion gear? Sounds to me like the right axle hub is bent, probably from curbage(ask my wife what is curbage) change axle shaft sounds like the cure to me.

 

Not sure why you are suspecting the carrier bearing.

First off, I'd find out why the caliper is moving! It shouldn't. (You know that.)

It is the only thing that touches the rotating mass that appears out of the ordinary.

A simple level can tell you if the axle housing is bent but that musta been a hell of a curb to bend it!

I would also ask you to elaborate on the "wobbling". Can you move the wheel yourself? (without it under power)
Does it move up and down or side to side?

The straight axles aren't all that complicated (unlike some of the Honda equipment) so tracking the simple things down could be a real timesaver.

 

Oh...when I read the title to your post I was gonna suggest Exlax. But prunes work okay too.

I would definantly add some more fiber to your diet if you have any other rear end problems!

 

haha =)


i know that caliper shouldnt be moving, thats why im kinda lost, seeing ive replaced everything the axle touches.

blackexpo- the caliper has to move to brake the car, unless theres a gremlin messing with my head and repeatedly pressing the brake while im behind the car looking at the wheels.

as for elaborating on my word "wobble" -

shaking the wheel does nothing, stiff like it should be. its not until the wheel starts rotating that the wobble shows up. only apparent from the rear of the car looking at the tread. you can see the tire wobble, as if the spline of the axle was loose. or a bent axle or hub but to the eye the axles look fine. not saying they arent bent, i just dont want to drop another 3-500 bucks on new axle shafts if they werent bent in the first place.

 

i only included the caliper part because i thought it would help you guys visualize the wobble.


when i have the wheel on and spin it by hand with the car in park, you can hear a faint clunk sound every so often. its not random but it feels like somethings not right, just the type of sound that id expect to turn into the sound i hear when im driving and the wheels sre spinning faster. while this is going on, the carrier doesnt move, the driveshaft is still (cause in this test im still in park =)...). not saying im ruling out the possibility of the ring and pinion being toast. but somethings still not right between the hubb and the spider gears(or possibly the carrier)

 

the pinion shaft is the name ford gave the shaft that goes through the carrier. im not meaning the pinion gear