Well I posted last week about my transmission going dead. I got no replies, but anyway, apparently that doesn't seem the problem anymore.

I began taking the transmission off today. I was set to remove it and then purchase a new one and install it myself. With the truck in neutral, I began removing the 4 bolts on the rear driveshaft. This is when I noticed that the driveshaft began moving all the way around. I thought this was a bit odd and went ahead an jacked up the rear wheels like you suggested. With it still in neutral, I turned the the rear left wheel first. The driveshaft didn't move. I went to the rear right wheel and turned that and low and behold I heard the clicking that began before my truck broke.

I started the engine and had someone peek underneath when I shifted it into gear. Putting it into reverse made it clunk loud right near the rear wheels and differential. I put it into drive and there was no clunking, but when I gassed it a little it started clunking controllably, all coming from the rear.

So from all of this I assume that the transmission and transfer case isn't the problem since the rear driveshaft does move when I gas it. The sounds are coming from the differential. It's a bit of a relief I suppose, but now I begin searching for the sollution to this? Any ideas? Joints, bearings, springs, etc? Not really familiar with the drivetrain much. Thanks.

 

sounds to me like the gears are done. if your lucky its only the spiders and not the ring and pinion. this happend to my ranger a few years ago but i killed the whole thing housing and all. pull the cover off and look inside. ford designed the shaft that holds the spider gears in to break and make a sound to prevent from completely destroying the whole thing hopefully yours isnt that far gone.

 

Alright it just got dark out, I'll pull the cover tomorrow and take a look. Maybe take some pics as well. Before I packed it all up for the day, I removed the rear wheels. The left rear axle did not move when I went to turn it, but the right rear had lots of play, seemed like it was shot. Would turn continuously in any direction and in and out a few inches also. I'll get more info tomorrow.

Out of curiosity, how much did it cost you to get your ranger fixed?

 

it only cost me round 300 but i bought a complete 8.8 from an explorer at a junk yard and swaped it for the disk brakes and 8.8 vers the 7.5 i had so i couldnt tell ya a price to rebuild yours but if its only the gears i cnat see it being more then a couple hundred but i could be wrong.

 

Sounds like it could be the spiders. If it is it is a quick fix. Just don't turn the driveshaft over any more until you find out. You could do some major damage to the ring and pinion if there are pieces of the spiders gears floating around in there.

 

well i pulled the cover today and found a good a mount of mess as u can see. im not sure exactly which parts are damaged and which aren't. i should've laid them all out and took another pic for you guys to see, but that atf fluid was making me woozy lol. both rear axle shafts, the driveshaft, and their teeth looked fine. everything else was all over the place. i removed everything inside and they are sitting in a box.

like i said, im totally new to the whole drive train stuff. on something like this should i replace the whole rear end or only the parts that were broken? there were a good amount of parts that looked fine. any recommendations as to where to buy some of this stuff online? wonder how much a whole rear end will cost. i'll be calling some shops, dealerships, and junkyards tomorrow. should i get this done at a shop you think? would this also be a good time change out my 3.55 gears to maybe 4.10s? if i change out the rears, i'd have to do the front as well right? lemme know what you guys think. ill post updates.

 

if you wanna save money and not have sumone else do it i would suggest buyin a who new axle from a yard its much easier if youve never done sumthing like this but if you want go ahead and try it. youll never learn if you never do it. but keep in mind to do it correct needs special tools. if youi can get a book that tells you step by step its really not all that hard just very tedious. or if you have sumone that has done this b4 and can help you threw it youd be ok. and yes you have to change the front gears if you change the rear ratio. hope this helps

tony

 

It looks like a little chip on the pinion gear. I think you let this thing "clunk" too long. Take a picture of the ring gear so that we can see it for damage as well. If there are just little chips you can sometimes polish them out and they will be ok for normal driving. If there are any cracks the gear is trash. New gears are in order if you are going to off road with this vehicle.

You can do it yourself for about 1/3rd of what a shop would charge and if you have the time and inclination it would be good experience.

Go to http://www.yukongear.com/ and download their complete instruction guide for regearing. You will find it very informative and the best part is that it is free.

 

I assembled my dana 44 the other day with some setup bearings, my preload was fine at the time, my backlash was about .006 and the tooth pattern was good, so I removed the carrier and pressed the new bearings on the carrier, when I installed it the preload was not very much, the carrier went in with little effort and not much hitting with my rubber mallet, I dont have a way to remove the carrier bearings without messing them up, or if someone has a way of removing bearings and they still be usable please let me know how and if my preload is a big concern or not

 

well i went to www.ringpinion.com for some technical support and asked what i'd have to purchase on their site. they said from what they can tell i'd need a new posi at $450 and a install kit at $85 given the ring and pinion are still fine. he also mentioned that if i don't 4 wheel at all, that i could upgrade the rear gears, but of course switching to 4wd by accident will screw up the transfer case.

how reasonable are those prices btw? i haven't really looked at other websites. if the ring and pinion are fine, then all i'd have to do is slip the posi in right? one of the junkyards in my area also has an entire rear axle for sale coming from the same truck as mine at $550. all i'd have to do there, is replace the whole thing and make sure there's fluid in there, and theoretically it'd be good to go, but i may be reluctant to go the used route.

it's not like im in any immediate rush, i have my mom's car to drive around which i don't mind. just steadily looking around for my options. if you guys know of any other places online, please let me know. i'll keep u guys updated...

 

It would definitely be easier to just get one from the bone yard. Just make sure they will guarantee that the gears are good. Once you get it installed then you are on your own.

 

find out how many miles are on the used rear that maybe your best route if you have to pay to have it installed. what locker did they tell you 450 for that will determin if thats high or not. just search for lockers and gears there are many places that have "sales" and that site is usually a good one.

 

I was under the impression that if you upgraded the rear gears than you have to upgrade the front also. If one doesn't upgrade both at the same time doesn't that make the truck a heavier version of a 2wd since you cannot engage 4wd?

 

Yeah, pretty much. You could remove the front driveshaft to prevent any accidents though. I waited until I could afford to change both axles, but this situation is a bit different.

 

well i just went to the junkyard and got the same exact axle. came out close to $500. just got finished swapping them out this weekend. made sure everything was tight, filled it up with 3 quarts of 75w145 Mobil 1, took it for a test drive around the block a couple times, and she seemed good as knew. smoother even.

anything i should follow up after this? maybe peek in the filler hole in a couple days and see if she needs more gear oil, or even an additive? thanks for all of your replies, it's always good to have your truck back.