Bought a 2002 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab Sport 4x4 with 4.7L V8 automatic transmission and the 9.25 rear. LSD? Open? IDK the difference.

Here are my problems...bought it with a rear end noise. So far I have jacked it up and I feel no play in the u-joints or the pinion yoke. I could not tell if it, the noise, is coming from the rear or the transfer case IDK.... many say from rear end and I feel they are right and this is why.

1.) Noise happens at first movement and just gets worse and louder the faster you go....and I mean loud.
2.) At 55mph if I let off the gas just a little bit I can make the noise go away....let off gas too much and there it is...get back on the gas and there it is....somewhere in the middle...hardly any noise at all.

Could this be u-joints? I wanted to pull the main drive shaft and separate the front yoke and put it in trans tail and then drive down the road with front wheel drive only and see if the noise changes to rule out the front diff/axles etc...but don't know how to keep yoke from dropping out.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to check when shaft is off? I want to drop the pan but really don't know what I would check in there except for making sure carrier bearings are tight???

Tks for any suggestions you may have....work starting bright and early Saturday morning.

Augusta, GA

 

sounds like my dad's truck when the rear end went out

 

What does this mean for me...buy a new ring and pinion? just replace bearings somewhere, buy a used rear end?

What does that mean that I have to do...being a do-it-yourself-er?

Can I find a Durango rear that will work. The Dakota's are Soooooo hard to find here in Augusta but the Durangos are everywhere in the yards.

Tks

 

if you don't have the tools (dial indicator for instance) let someone do it, might just need bearings, might be the gears are worn, or you might have an issue with the mesh of the gears

 

I'm hoping that I have some bearing play which is allowing for a mesh it is not quite correct, giving me the noise so hopefully repairing or replacing some bearing bearings maybe a pinion bearing I can get away and get back to the quieter truck.