Possible rear axle issues plz help.........

J

jasong915

Registered
I have noticed that my Blackwood makes a strange noise when turning and accelerating. The noise is like a vibration. I am thinking it is the trac lok working but I am not sure. Can anyone give me some insight on what this could be?

Thanks
 
Welcome! :)

If the Blackwood has Trac-lok, put in a bottle of friction modifier and see if that helps.
 
My navigator does the same thing. Differential chatter. There's a TSP out on it for 03-up trucks, but mine's an 02 and it still chatters.

The easy fix is to put extra friction modifier in the axle. That didn't work on mine, but it got a little better.

The real fix is to replace the clutches in the differential (rebuild it). My truck has the 9.75" rear end, I assume the blackwood does too but I could be wrong. If it's an 8.8" rear end, you can do it yourself with mostly normal tools, and the rebuild kit is $50 or so. If it's a 9.75" rear end, the rebuild kit lists for $140 but can be had significantly cheaper on ebay, i picked one up for $40. The problem is that you have to pay someone to do it... it takes about $600 in special tools to take the diff apart.
 
Driller/sleeper,

Thanks for the information I appreciate the info. I am taking my truck to the service department. I will be armed with some good info. I'm pretty sure it has the 9.75 rear end. Did you pick your rebuild kit up on Ebay or did you find it somewhere else?

Thanks again :)
 
I took the truck to Ford and they found the following issues: The rear brakes were worn down almost to the metal, the rotors needed to be resurfaced and the rear axle seals were leaking. All the work was completed but the truck is still making the noise. I plan on taking it back tomorrow but according to them the differential is fine. Anything other advice. Thanks
 
I know I know....far cry. How does he know they fixed the brakes?! If he took it to a shop to repair something and they said its fixed.....but its NOT, than they didn't do their job. I'd be raising hell.

If you don't want to do that....go buy a bottle of EquaTorq from Napa/Kragen and stick it in the diff through the fill hole. Don't worry about draining it or anything......

If that doesn't fix it, start counting your pennies, its time for new clutches(rebuild).
 
That's what i've been saying from the get go. Clutches in the diff. If the dealer didn't realize this is the problem, then there's a problem with the dealer. Maybe your rear brakes were fubared, who knows. But that's not the cause of a problem under acceleration, and if that was their diagnosis, that tech needs some reeducation.

Really, this problem should not cause any further problems, so you could just forget about it and hope it goes away. It's not good, though, and there's a small possibility it can cause other damage. Just a small one though.

I was towing my boat this weekend, and the chatter from the diff was much more pronounced. Pretty bad. I think I might actually get it fixed (it's been doing this noticeably for 3-4 months now).

Take the car to a ring and pinion shop and get a quote from them. They'll probably diagnose it correctly, and they're more likely to warranty the work. Plus it'll be cheaper.

Last time I took a car to the dealer for work (at least when I didn't know the tech), I brought it in for one specific problem and was told it would be done a few hours later. On my way to pick the car up, I got a call that I needed about 6 different things and they hadn't started the work on what I wanted them to do. I showed up, raised hell, looked at what they were trying to sell me, and reiterated what was already on my service order: FIX THIS - NOT THAT. I had brought the car in (my 94 mark) for a replacement of the boot where the steering shaft goes through the firewall. They wanted to sell me ball joints and tie-rod ends... because one had a bad boot.
 
Yep...that sounds like the case here. He was "taken" instead of getting his problem fixed. Honestly I'm surprised they didn't throw a bottle of Diff additive in themselves and than you would have thought all was well and you just needed all that other work too, but now you're up sh*t creek without a paddle.

Point blank....they DID NOT fix what you told them to fix...get some sort of refund, free diagnosis or something. You're in the wrong for authorizing the other work after we told you exactly whats wrong, but they shouldn't take advantage of you either.
 
I wouldn't bother trying to get a refund, we all know that's not going to happen, and he probably needed brakes anyway. It just wasn't hte problem he was going in for.

Fixing the problem the right way will cost $600+ at the dealer anyway.
 
I know how to fix it..........or make it better.

Put a bottle of Equa Torque in it, drive down to the dealer, do a few donuts in their parking lot and call it good. Oh....leave with the bird out the window and for sh*ts and giggles, call them all n00bs. PWND.
 
I was just looking at some old threads (still on the 1st page) in the truck forum and found this one. The funny thing is the spare clutches are still on my desk and I still haven't fixed the problem. It goes away every summer and comes back every winter, but the trac-lock still works and the differential hasn't fallen out yet.

I did have to do an axle seal and rear brakes recently though :)
 
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