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Blown rear end?

KlsCuda

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Yesterday I heard what I thought was a clicking while backing into the garage.

But then I didn't hear it again.. so I thought maybe a rock in the tire.

Well after a drive today it's much worse.

Here are 2 videos of my wiggling the rear tire while on the jack and just rolling the car on the ground.

sendvid.com/dmug2fem

sendvid.com/uoslmlrj

I think too many hard launches finally broke it ..
 
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pschlosser

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broken link(s) top videos.

what's size and gearing rear-end and which transmission is the car equipped with? The 8.75 rear-ends are kinda hard to break.
 

Katfish

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That doesn't sound good, I'd take the wheel and drum off and see how the axle looks/feels.
 

KlsCuda

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That doesn't sound good, I'd take the wheel and drum off and see how the axle looks/feels.
Yes that's my tomorrow project.. pulling wheels and drums.

I can feel the clunk with my hand on either rear tire when I roll it
 

rallye340

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Whew! When I first saw the post "Blown Rear End" my first thought is parts flying out of your rear end housing. I'm glad it wasn't that. If you haven't removed the rear drums yet, using a stethoscope and with the car on jack stands have someone rotate a tire while you listen around the housing and the 3rd member. Please keep us posted on what you find.
 
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KlsCuda

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Update: This morning I pulled the wheels and brake drums off. Everything looks good there, I checked u joints and those are good. Also there is no noise while rolling the car today.

I checked fluid in the diff and it's full, I don't see any sparkles of metal in it, and it smells like normal diff fluid.

So only makes clunks and bangs when it hot? I'm going to take it for a short drive today (10 minutes or so and get it warmed up) and see if it makes noise again. Would that be fluid? maybe it needs a change and a good dose off friction modifier?
 
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Chryco Psycho

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I used to blow up an 8 3/4 every year the spider gears would fail .
I hope it is something else !
New fluid will not harm anything but it is not making noise because of old fluid
 

KlsCuda

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10 mile drive and no noise. didn't feel any chatter or anything from the back. rolled the car around in the garage and it seems fine, no noise.

I guess I'll change the fluid and then take it for a longer drive, go do donuts in a parking lot or something and see how it behaves when I really heat it up.

as always thanks guys and I'm open to suggestions!
 

rallye340

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A gear oil change certainly wouldn't hurt plus you'll get a better look to see if any metal particles are suspended in it. The friction modifier doesn't last forever (if there's some in the gear oil) and neither does the gear oil. I had a Jeep one time that started making rear diff. noises, clicking and chattering. A change of the friction modifier and gear oil eliminated the noise.

Oh, be careful doing donuts in parking lots. Just doing some dual wheel peels would work too. :cool:
 

MoparCarGuy

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You may want to closely re-inspect the brake shoes, wheel cylinder links, and springs to ensure they are in the right place.
I have had a brake shoe spring move out of place and cause all kinds of racket when rolling. Intermittent popping, clicking, etc.
At first glance, all looked good.
 

KlsCuda

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Hi all ... update:

I replaced the diff fluid with 80w90 and a bottle of motorcraft additive friction modifier. The fluid that came out looked ok (no metal particles).

I went for a 15-mile drive which included a lot of taking corners and a few burn outs. Then 2 days later I went for a 30-mile drive.

No noises, no clunking, rolled it around the garage and it was smooth and quiet.
 
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