Well ive been hearing some odd sounding metal clanking sounds coming from the rear of my 97' Maro. Well today I decided to take a look at so me and a buddy of mine put the rear on jack stands and was rolling through the gears (checked the U joints drive shaft etc.) Well the drive shaft is fine. We then went to look at the rear end on the car. So we pop'd the cover off and saw the pin in the rear end was grinding and causing metal flakes to form in the rear end. Would this be the cause of the clanking sounds from the rear end?

My question is how much am I looking at for a new/used Carrier/pin?

 

Save yourself a lot of headache, just go buy a whole rears axle from a yard. Sure yours could be fix this but if you need to ask how then you most likely can not do the work yourself. Those metal shaving are all thru your rear now so even if you fix what casued the metal shaving you are now going to have to fix the damage the metal shaving have done. That could be carrier bearings, heck any bearing in the wholerear, not to mention the gears themselfs.
You can buy complete rears for between $200-500. You could end up with a posi-disk brake upgrade.

 

Good advise.

 

We'll the guy who helped me with it knows a hella lot more then I do. Ill admit it ina heart beat (even if he's a ford guy!) But from what he said its just the carrier and pin.[>:]


All though I was hoping it was just a U joint im glad I looked at it when I did. [&o]

 

The bad part about the metal in the bearing is that it might work fine for two or three hundred miles then a hum will start. It will continue to get worst untill it fails. I am suprised someone who knows cars, even a Ford guy, would not give you a heads up on this. The carrier is pretty expensive unless you buy used. Is your friend going to set it up for you? The cost of getting a used one put in your housing will be almost as much as complete used axle. Most likely if the shop sees then metal shaving they are going to tell you you need new carrier and pinion bearing or they will not cover the repair with any warranty. You could easly get into a $600 repair.
I have never done a rear in a 4th gen but I have done dozens in 3rd gens. It is not a simple thing to change a carrier, you basicly have to setup the entire rear all over. There is little chance the carrier will mount up exactly the way your old one did. And if you have to change the pinion bearing you will be setting up the entire rear.

 

^^^he has good advice...i'd go look for a new rear...hell, its always something nice to have on hand anyway

 

Thanks for the advice. Yea were doing everything our selves.... So would a rear end swap be simpler then replacing the carrier? Im just trying to find the best route to go in.


And who would figure a V6 would bust a rear end. The previous owner musta gutted the cat.[&:]

all thought my car does have 175K miles on it. ha!

 

Out of all the professional mechanics I have known only about 50% could/would setup a rear. I have known a few hobbiest that could do a nice job and I have helped a few outthat got inover their heads. I have seen a good bit of new parts that ended up in the scrap barrel due incorrect setup.

Any hobbiest that keepsan eye on the detailscan install an axle from the same make/model car in a day.

 

i never was one for buying used parts only because its still a gamble on how maintained that rear end was and if its a lot of life left on it