I have a 2001 ram van with a 9.25" rear. It has a tick in the rear of the vehicle that increases with speed. It's gets faster in relation with vehicle speed. After removing the diff cover I found a piece of metal lying in the bottom of the case. I removed the diff and rebuilt it with new clutch packs and bearings amd reinstalled it After a test drive, the tick is still present.
Could it be a wheel bearing? There is no play in the driveshaft to indicate bad u joints. The backlash is correct. Everything is new but the wheel bearings and the u joints. Cannot reproduce the sound with rear on jacks and rotating the tires. Seems to be right side.
A big thank you to the guy with the diff rebuilding tutorial. Saved me $400 doing it myself.
Help! Need the ticking to stop!

 

Can you hear it if you drive slow, and walk next to the van? Might wanna pull the drums, and see if anything in there is out of place.

 

^van?

Did you leave anything in the pumpkin?

Is it the exact same sound as before the replacement?

What have you done to rule out other sounds? (use a buddy's ear?)

 

It's the same noise as before. I'll order the bearings and the u joints and replace those. I'll recheck the backlash and inner bearing torque on the inside of the pumpkin. I'll report back soon....

 

I agree with looking at the rear brakes just to make sure...

 

Look at your canisters back there mine had a weird tick I couldn't figure out. Then I happen to glance up and see a disconnected line, plugged it in and the tick was gone.
Worth a shot. And it's on the right side.