Rear differential rebuild

[silver93t]

My 2013 Roush has developed a rear end whine that has slowly been getting worse over time. It is most apparent from 30-60mph. Truck has 150,000 miles on it and I do quite a bit of light duty towing with our race car and trailer. I popped off the rear cover and there was significant gold colored flakes in the fluid, leading me to believe a bearing is on its way out. Ring and pinion look ok with no abnormal wear or chips on the teeth. I did a 60/40 mix of Lucas oil stabilizer and Motul 75w90 GL5 which has quieted it down somewhat in the meantime, but its going to have to be rebuilt soon. Are oem parts the way to go or is there a better aftermarket option? Thanks.

 

[Big Johnson]

The oem rebuild kit is pretty cheap, all bearings are timken anyways if i recall correctly. If you are just doing bearings I would source from a bearing place, if you are doing it all just get the whole kit from ford. The only thing I don’t like about the ford kit is the one pinion bearing they send is half the size of the original. If you get them to just look up the bearing separately it lists the correct one, if you go this route you will have to get the proper crush sleeve as the one they send with the kit is a different size to account for the different pinion bearing.

 

[silver93t]

The oem rebuild kit is pretty cheap, all bearings are timken anyways if i recall correctly. If you are just doing bearings I would source from a bearing place, if you are doing it all just get the whole kit from ford. The only thing I don’t like about the ford kit is the one pinion bearing they send is half the size of the original. If you get them to just look up the bearing separately it lists the correct one, if you go this route you will have to get the proper crush sleeve as the one they send with the kit is a different size to account for the different pinion bearing.

I wonder why the smaller bearing? Was there an update?

 

[Big Johnson]

I am not sure why, and I am sure it would probably be fine to rebuild it with the smaller one. The rollers are essentially 1/3 smaller on the inner pinion is all. My thought process was that it lasted quite a few miles with the original bearing so why not put the same thing back in.

 

[Ruger]

A guess: The smaller bearing is cheaper for Ford to procure?
Guess #2: The smaller bearing has less friction.

 

[silver93t]

Is there an actual rebuild kit? Ford is telling me no.

 

[Big Johnson]

The crown and pinion can be bought as a kit that includes bearings, seal and crush sleave. If you are looking for a rebuild kit without the gears you likely will have to order parts separately

 

[Edbert]

My hat is tipped to anyone who will rebuild their diff!

After reading up on the methods of adjusting the mesh of ring to pinion (and what happens if you get it wrong even a little bit) I decided it is one of the few things that I will not attempt. I've installed axles and wheel bearings more than once, but steer clear of the gears and leave them to an expert.

 

[Baron138]

I had the tell tail bearing whine coming from the rear the end of last year. Brought it to the dealer that's always been really good to me. They put in to Ford to do the whole rear under the extended warranty as they were worried about frag in the clutches. Ford approved it, but it took them almost 2 months to get parts though. Called Ford every damn day till they finally gave me back what would have been 2 months worth of payments if I had financed. Was still pissed, but I got a new rear, plus money out of them so that helped get over it.

 

[Big Johnson]

Haha there are no clutches in an electronic locker