John McW
New Member
Ok guys, I'm at the end of my know-how/experience. Here's the background:
1997 Expedition 4wd 5.4 auto 85k miles LSD 9.75 IIRC. I picked up the suv at an auction, before which I believe the vehicle sat for about 1-1.5 years. When I finally got it on the road after a slew of other repairs, I noticed a fairly significant clunking coming from the rearward parts. I didn't drive it enough to confidently say it made the noise only when turning right or left, or only made it under acceleration/deceleration, etc. It pretty much just made the noise at seemingly random times, and I got the sense that I could feel a slight shift in the vehicle's balance each time it made a clunk. Maybe not, but if so very slight.
Assuming the worst, I pulled the cover off the diff. Nothing. I verified it wasn't anything up front by disconnecting the drive shaft. With the rear wheels of the ground, I could not spin either tire by hand. So I removed the wheels, removed each caliper, and with a pry bar between the lugs, I could move it with relatively little force going in reverse, but not forward. Both sides. If I try to spin the hub forward, it moves maybe 5 degrees and then jams. When I'm moving each hub in reverse, I can feel and hear a metallic scraping noise. When I had the wheels on, I checked for play at 6 and 12 o'clock, as well as 3 and 9. Nothing. In and out play - left nothing, right maybe 1/16th - 1/8th inch.
Could it be that both wheel bearings seized from sitting, and then when I drove it they came apart? Or is it the clutch packs? I am not experienced with rears, so any advice would be helpful.
Just to recap what diagnostics I did:
Isolated the problem to hubs and rear diff.
Opened diff cover, nothing obviously wrong.
Removed calipers.
Did not find up/down or side/side play in hub.
Can turn both hubs in reverse with mild force - hear scraping noise.
Cannot turn either hub forward.
I think that's it. If you feel like more info would be helpful, please ask. I might have left something out. Thanks in advance for the help!
1997 Expedition 4wd 5.4 auto 85k miles LSD 9.75 IIRC. I picked up the suv at an auction, before which I believe the vehicle sat for about 1-1.5 years. When I finally got it on the road after a slew of other repairs, I noticed a fairly significant clunking coming from the rearward parts. I didn't drive it enough to confidently say it made the noise only when turning right or left, or only made it under acceleration/deceleration, etc. It pretty much just made the noise at seemingly random times, and I got the sense that I could feel a slight shift in the vehicle's balance each time it made a clunk. Maybe not, but if so very slight.
Assuming the worst, I pulled the cover off the diff. Nothing. I verified it wasn't anything up front by disconnecting the drive shaft. With the rear wheels of the ground, I could not spin either tire by hand. So I removed the wheels, removed each caliper, and with a pry bar between the lugs, I could move it with relatively little force going in reverse, but not forward. Both sides. If I try to spin the hub forward, it moves maybe 5 degrees and then jams. When I'm moving each hub in reverse, I can feel and hear a metallic scraping noise. When I had the wheels on, I checked for play at 6 and 12 o'clock, as well as 3 and 9. Nothing. In and out play - left nothing, right maybe 1/16th - 1/8th inch.
Could it be that both wheel bearings seized from sitting, and then when I drove it they came apart? Or is it the clutch packs? I am not experienced with rears, so any advice would be helpful.
Just to recap what diagnostics I did:
Isolated the problem to hubs and rear diff.
Opened diff cover, nothing obviously wrong.
Removed calipers.
Did not find up/down or side/side play in hub.
Can turn both hubs in reverse with mild force - hear scraping noise.
Cannot turn either hub forward.
I think that's it. If you feel like more info would be helpful, please ask. I might have left something out. Thanks in advance for the help!