I think I broke something in the rear end.


I backed out of a driveway and when I put it into gear and started to go forward I heard a loud pop and then another loud pop. I slowly drove down the road and made a turn and heard the loud pops again, and its coming from the rear axle. I THINK I may have seen the drivers side wheel start to move out of the axle a little when I pulled over to see what was wrong. There also seems to be alot of slack in the axle when I shake either wheel back and forth. It also kinda seems like maby some teeth broke off one of the the gears in the rear because I kinda feel like a bump when driving it. I drove the truck the 2 or 3 miles home at 10mph with my dad following me, and it seemed to make the most noise when I made left hand turns.

I hope it isnt anything to bad, I just spent $1000 on the front end like 5 days ago.

 

I know a friend who had similar sounds in the rear end of his Chevy Astro. Turned out he chewed up his spider gears in the differential. Not saying for sure, but it sounds real similar to what you are describing.

 

I guess tomorrow ill go take the diff cover off and look for any metal in the bottom of the pumpkin. I have never messed with the inside of a differential so this will be kinda new.


I have a 7.5 limited slip with 4.10 gears so that means I need some kind of special fluid since I have the clutch type limited slip right?

 

sounds like spider gears. my bet is a C clip fell out and that cross pin broke too. good old 8.8s

 

Here was my idea, since his mum is being stubborn and wont let him put in anything that isnt a 7.5" rear


Would anyone in texas like to help instal an 8.8" rear end into this truck, if he got all the parts needed? Maybe a few guys and knock it out in a day or 2. The 8.8" is way stronger than the 7.5" and it'd make no sense to go back with that.


How much work does it take to get an explorer/mustang/crownvic 8.8" rear end into a ranger anyways?

 

I could swap them out by my self and my dad will help if need be.

Im going to check the junkyard and see if they have something that will fit, whether it be an 8.8 or a 7.5 as long as it has a ls and 4.10s in it. I dont really care if my mom says i cant put an 8.8 in, if the junkyard has one with what I need in it then ill be putting that in.

First thing im going to do though is take the diff cover off and see what is going on in there.

 

can someone say explorer axle time?

 

Yeah, if it is the spider gears, swapping an 8.8 may actually be cheaper. When my friend had his gears done at a shop, it was a little over $1000. On a funny side note, he then sold the van 3 days later :)

 

Thats what i suggested

I know an explorer expert in texas to

 

well that sucks. i guess your front and rear diff's will be like new soon. too bad it had to happen right after the front was worked on.

 

Well it wasnt the front diff that was worked on it was balljoints, and hubs (bearings blew apart). Its still 1k that I could have used else where, and this isnt helping. I got $58 to my name so I have a feeling ill be bumming money from my parents for this.

Im about to go to the jy and see what they have.

 

oh sorry my stupidity on the front end, now it really sucks you have to borrow from your parents.

 

ok well I went to the junkyard and of course they didnt have anything off a ranger or explorer so I guess ill be finding junkyards in near by towns and looking at ebay and craigslist.


I took the cover off the diff and this is what I saw.





Hard to see but the teeth are torn up on all of the spider gears. Some have deep notches in the middle of them.


Here is about half of the metal shavings that are all over the place.


This is what happens when you dont change your diff fluid. Most parts are coated in this sludge.

 

wow man that really sucks

 

yea it does, cant really be that surprised though because it has 177k miles on it and has been beat on for most its life. Just wish it would have happen in a couple months so I would have money to fix it. Guess the saying "you gotta pay to play" comes in here?

 

where abouts are you in Texas

 

I can see the top of the pinion and it looks ok, I may pull it apart more later. The spider gears are all bad, they all have chunks of the teeth gone and are worn down. I would rather get a new axle then deal with it to tell you the truth.

k.blakeley, im in bay city so im pretty far away.

 

im just going to get a new axle, I already ripped that one out. I have found a place that has the exact same rear and a couple 8.8s so im going there tomorrow to either get an 8.8 if they have the right one for a good price and if not then ill be bringing home the 7.5.

 

sucks dude, how often you should be changing the differential fluid in your axels? I wonder if mine has ever been done but my truck only has 67k on it so its not even really broken in yet.. also how do you go about changing that fluid anyways? that stuff looks like oil or is it oil? ive always wondered this... any help would be nice and good luck dude hope you get that thing fixed!

 

30k is whats recommended or general rule or thumb as far as i kno. . .course if u play in mud change it sooner. . . this is y i have a whole spare 8.8 layin round. . .

 

I offroad mine and it has 176-177 miles on it like said above so mine is probably worse then ones with fewer miles and little offroading.

There is differential fluid that you put in it, and its not black when new.

 

Well I found an axle exactly the same as the on I have now in houston. I went and got it brought it home, took the diff. cover off and there were some chips int eh spider gears. I took that axle back and got my money back.

I found another axle in houston that is a 8.8 for $300 out of a 2wd 2002 edge with I think 100k miles (cluster was messed up so hard to see). I took the cover off that one at the yard to see what it looked like and it look great so I brought it home. I plan to start the install in the morning.

Going to feel good driving the truck, been a week without it.

 

man I got 156,000 on mine I should start thinking about getting my differential oil changed. glad you found another axle good luck putting it in.