Looking for troubleshooting advice:
1994 f150 e40d 4x4

I'm getting a terrible intermittent scraping and grinding noise at slow speeds usually when breaking and sometimes worse when turning a corner.
It sounds just like something in the rear drums came loose and was bouncing around in there getting ground up. Only its not. I replaced all the brake hardware and shoes a few months back and just tore into them and everything is still perfect, no shavings and everything in-place!?

When slowly moving back and forth in the driveway both front and rear driveshafts seem a bit jerky and I can't pinpoint the noise to the front or rear. Almost like sometimes its front and sometimes its rear? When driving it really feels like its coming from the rear.

Where do I go from here?
I'm thinking possibilities is best case u joints.
Worst case is something in rear axle (bearings), transfer case, or transmission?

Any troubleshooting ides? Can I just remove front driveshaft and start there?

Thanks in advance

 

You should be able to take the front driveshaft out of the equation by not using 4 wheel drive.

To check the U joints in the rear driveshaft, park the truck on level ground and away from traffic, put the transmission in neutral to take any tension off the driveshaft. Crawl under the truck and vigorously twist and push up and down on the shaft as you watch for any movement in the U joints. Obviously check one U joint at a time as you watch it. This works well once you get used to doing it and what to watch for. NOTE: the driveshaft will twist some so watch for movement in the U joint as the shaft hits the end of it's twist.

 

Thanks for the reply! No slop in the driveshafts but the binding is because the tcase is stuck in 4wd causing the front driveshaft to rub on the longtube header clamp. Adjusting the clamp fixed the squeel but the tcase is toast. It doesnt spin freely and catches at the same spot each rotation. Gonna swap the tcase but noticed a difference in the seals. The old tcase has a better seal that hugs the driveshaft . Any ideas what brand that would be?

 

That's what was causing my ticking noise...