I have a 2001 5.4 v8 with a 3.73 limited slip 9.75 rear end. I was driving then felt and heard a loud pop now it sounds like a can full of nuts and bolts when I put it in gear and try to move at all. Does anyone know that I need to fix? I have been told bearings, but I ain't sure which ones I need. Please help

 

Try taking a look at your rear U-joint. I find it much more likely that it is bad, then your rear end blowing up. I had a U-joint that sounded like you were crunching up leaves when you would downshift in my old truck, so it is a possibility. Give it a try and post back up what you see.

 

When my rear end went bad you could here a high whining noise - so I agree with link5631 - sounds like a u-joint may have suddenly broke. Please get back on this - sorry about your truck's problem.

 

I haven't been able to check if anyone has responded as I haven't had any service. What do I need to do in order to check the u-joint and how can I tell if it's gone bad?

 

If the Ujoint is bad the driveline will move. It should not. Usually if you go from drive to reverse there will be a loud clank sound if the ujoint is bad. If that isnt the problem you gotta pull the cover off the diff and see what in there, Lots of metal chunks you need a new diff. The bearings are in the axels you have to pull the 2 clips out to slide them out. If you not super capable with a wrench think seriously about going to a shop..

 

Sorry, but the ONLY way to check a u-joint properly is to pull the drive shaft. PERIOD. Been doing this way too long, and seen it mis-diagnosed over and over. Pull the shaft.

 

White, what should one look for if a ujoint is bad?

 

Like white said to pull the shaft and look for any play in the joint, there should be absolutely none. If there is no play and/or it doesn't move freely and feels gritty, the joint is probably seized and I would recommend replacing it.

I just did mine, it took me around 30 minutes and the U-joint was like 15 bucks at Autozone for a Moog. Lots of videos on youtube on how to do it, don't tell yourself it is hard, once you start doing it, they are extremely simple. All you need is basic hand tools like ratchets and sockets.

 

Exactly. Sometimes it will show you some rust or a bad seal. But most of the time it is hard to tell when the truck is sitting in park. There's just not enough movement/travel to properly diagnose the joint.

I just did mine again a couple months ago. I did a video of the noise it was making.

They don't all get like this.... This one was the simplest to diagnose because the cups were SHOT. This was how my Expy was when it was given to me. This actually caused a t-case to grenade on it.

 

The root cause of the noise in my video above.


This is a pic AFTER the install, but it is very important to mark BOTH ends of the shaft, before you start, as I and II because you can reverse the shaft, and knock the balance off.


I originally put Precision joints in it, but they were junk. You can see the quality difference between the two. The Precision cap (right) leaves a lot to be desired in weather protection.


The Preceision (right) is meek by comparison. Neapco's a WONDERFUL.