Some of you may know that I've not had any luck whatsoever with my Dakota lately. I've posted 2 separate threads on my truck this past week and I really appreciate everyone's feedback and will to help. With your all's help I think I've been able to solve the problems I've been having and I'm no mechanic by any means. I just wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone for your help.


99 Dakota 5.2L Auto 4x4 77,800 miles

I've been noticing a scraping noise coming from my rear end lately. It's really noticeable from 10mph and up. It doesn't seem to get louder with speed or under heavy acceleration. The best way I can describe the noise is when you have no brake pads left on your brakes and it makes that scraping sound against the rotors. It doesn't shake or vibrate and makes no additional sounds when turning in either direction. I recently changed the fluid and inspected everything. I didn't see anything of the obvious in the gears and everything looked pretty good. The fluid was a little nasty and there was a fine metal shavings caught by the magnet. (which is pretty normal from what I've been reading) When you let off the throttle the sound goes away for a few seconds then it comes back again. The throttle is responsive and you feel no slips or delay when you throttle.

I crawled under it and pulled and pushed on the driveshaft. It was tight in the front and bottom. I can't tell if the sound is more toward the driver side or passenger side. I just hope I don't need a compete rebuild. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Have you checked your brakes Matt? Drum brakes aren't hard to inspect.

 

No not yet. I was going to when I had more time. I did go out and shake the truck from side to side. I heard a popping noise coming from the driver rear side. Almost sounding like the tire was loose. I check the bolts by hand and they seemed tight but tomorrow ill inspect it better. Could it be a bearing possibly?

 

Yes, it could be a bearing making your noise.

Did you have the parking brake set? It might have made the noise too?

 

The rear axles can move in and out slightly when everything is normal, which could possibly cause the noise you hear when pushing the truck from side to side. This is more likely if you have the parking brake off while you're doing it.

 

No I didn't have the parking brake on. I'm going to inspect the brakes today and see if the bearing is bad.

 

The only real way to check the bearing is to remove the axle shaft. And if the bearing is bad, you'll probably find that the axle is, too.

 

Give the brakes a good look, scraping noise is more of a brake thing.

 

Well I set the parking brake and shook the truck from side to side and still got that clunk noise. Jacked it up and pulled on the tire and it still made the clunk noise. It doesn't have free play in it but you can grab behind the tire and pull it towards you to get that cluck noise. You can't change the angle of the tire by pushing or pulling it (if that makes sense). Jacked it up and rotated the tire by hand and still heard the scraping noise. It does sound like it's coming from this area and not from the rear diff. Took the tire off and looked at the brakes. The brake pads looked good and the inside of the drum looked good. Both was smooth with no scoring. I did notice that the outer lip of the drum (the one that pulls off) is rusted up pretty bad on the inside and out. I was able to rotate it with the brake drum off and I didn't hear that scraping noise. It did squeak a little but that's it. I jacked the other side up and put it in drive without the brake drum on. No scrap noise. Cleaned the brake dust out and put the brake drum and tire back on. With it jacked up I put it in drive and the scraping noise came back.

I'm thinking the scraping noise is a result of the rusted lip. Price check at local parts store and 9'' drum is $30 and the 10'' is $60. Since the brake's works fine I believe I'm just going to live with the noise for now. I don't think it's a bearing or anything drive related.

 

Check the brake backing plate on that side to make sure it's not bent. It shouldn't be touching the brake drum. If it is, that would cause the scraping noise you hear.