rear end rebuild

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Feb 05, 2015 3:59 pm

Has anyone here rebuilt the rear end on a mustang? I have all the parts and I'm ready to get this built. I was waiting on Mark Cooper, but I've not heard back from him and I'm running out of time before the first event.

Can anyone help me? I can tear this apart, but I need help w/ setting up the gear set and shimming it correctly. Also need help in setting the pinion bearing and preload. I've watched the youtube stuff, but I don't want to monkey this up. Willing to pay for your time. If not, any recommendations on a place to take it? I really want to get my hands on this so I can learn how to set this up properly. I want someone w/ some experience to help me get this built correctly, freaking whine is killing my ears....

anyone? Suggestions?

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Thu Feb 05, 2015 5:20 pm

Rodney,

I used this guy in about 2006 to replace the diff clutches in my 2001 Mustang because I really didn't have the time to do it myself and I needed someone experienced to look at the rear end to spot any problems other than clutches. The place is NOT impressive but the work he did on my car was fine.

Quote:

Diversified Automotive
Address: 2465 Reliance Ave, Apex, NC 27539
Phone:(919) 303-5079

Owner: Craig

Small repair shop that replaced the limited slip clutches in my 2001 Mustang in May 2006

Recommended by Carolina Mustang in Cary

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

DickRasmussen wrote:

Rodney,

I used this guy in about 2006 to replace the diff clutches in my 2001 Mustang because I really didn't have the time to do it myself and I needed someone experienced to look at the rear end to spot any problems other than clutches. The place is NOT impressive but the work he did on my car was fine.

Quote:

Diversified Automotive
Address: 2465 Reliance Ave, Apex, NC 27539
Phone:(919) 303-5079

Owner: Craig

Small repair shop that replaced the limited slip clutches in my 2001 Mustang in May 2006

Recommended by Carolina Mustang in Cary

The owner is Craig Fridley. Don Ingerslew recommended him to me. He swapped the original 2.73 gears in my '90 Mustang for (I hope you're sitting down) a set of take-off 3.08 gears. After about a year those gears developed a mild whine, but remember that they were take-offs from one of his previous customers.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Fri Feb 06, 2015 1:22 pm

One thing about Craig. Due to "car shuffle" issues and the fact that he worked into the evenings anyway I needed to have the work done while I waited. Of course I also wanted to watch (and his "waiting room" . . . wasn't

). He was a little upset at first because he would be teaching me how to do work he gets paid to do. I explained that I had done the diff clutch repair previously but simply didn't have time/energy to do it again myself. Plus I needed his experience to check for other problems. Experience I could never hope to learn by watching one repair.

Therefore, since you do want to learn by watching you might let him know that is the goal and ask how much extra he would charge for combination do/teach.

Dick

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2015 12:56 pm

So my education continues. Today I removed the entire rear diff. Took my time and it took about 2 hours to drop it. So the 4th time is the charm, right? Man, I hope this is the last time. After this it goes to a professional shop that deals in rebuilding diffs. But, I will admit, it's been an interesting lesson in mechanics. Mark is coming over to help me one last time...

diff ready to attack this Saturday

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:11 pm

Rodney - I assume your car is lowered in addition to the various poly bushings and other rear suspension goodies. Have you verified that the pinion angle is correct and that the u-joints are in good shape? You've been chasing this problem for a long time and I don't recall all the things that you've already done.

In any case I hope this time the problem is solved. Hopefully the shop will be able to tell you what the problem was!

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:58 pm

DickRasmussen wrote:

Rodney - I assume your car is lowered in addition to the various poly bushings and other rear suspension goodies. Have you verified that the pinion angle is correct and that the u-joints are in good shape? You've been chasing this problem for a long time and I don't recall all the things that you've already done.

In any case I hope this time the problem is solved. Hopefully the shop will be able to tell you what the problem was!

Funny you mention U-joints, there are no "traditional" U-joints in the drive line. Pinion angle is in spec. We're giving this a once over to make sure back lash and pinion preload are correct. We'll reset and reinstall the diff and test. If it still whines, it's off to east coast gears...

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:30 pm

Rodney, I think the rear end guy you are looking for is called a proctologist.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sun Apr 05, 2015 9:07 am

Rodney - Report or still in progress?

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Sun Apr 05, 2015 5:37 pm

DickRasmussen wrote:

Rodney - Report or still in progress?

Went thru this yet again and there is improvement, but now it has a whine on decel from 50-40. Everything else speedwise seems ok. Not sure what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to try one more thing in regard to shimming the diff and getting more back lash. Right now it's at 9 thousandths, it needs to be a touch more. The preload on the pinion is good. If that doesn't work, I'm done and it's going to east coast.

Jordan Normark · **Posted:** Sun Apr 05, 2015 7:26 pm

For what it's worth, when I installed polyurethane bushings (2) in the Miata diff carrier I immediately noticed rear end whine that I had never heard before. I mention this because it looks like you have poly bushings in your rear control arms.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sun Apr 05, 2015 9:24 pm

RodneyWright wrote:

DickRasmussen wrote:

Rodney - Report or still in progress?

Went thru this yet again and there is improvement, but now it has a whine on decel from 50-40. Everything else speedwise seems ok. Not sure what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to try one more thing in regard to shimming the diff and getting more back lash. Right now it's at 9 thousandths, it needs to be a touch more. The preload on the pinion is good. If that doesn't work, I'm done and it's going to east coast.

Maybe it needs cheese.

FYI: My solid axle Mustangs have all had some level of gear whine with the 97 needing parts replaced under warranty. I think the 15's irs is silent since I haven't noticed it . . . yet. None of mine have had poly bushings, etc. though.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:16 am

Jordan Normark wrote:

For what it's worth, when I installed polyurethane bushings (2) in the Miata diff carrier I immediately noticed rear end whine that I had never heard before. I mention this because it looks like you have poly bushings in your rear control arms.

I had the poly lower arms installed last year and there was no change in the noise when I installed those.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Tue Apr 07, 2015 9:36 am

Raising the white flag and giving up, which I hate to do. For whatever reason, I just can't get the roar out of this rear end. New pinon bearings, ring and pinon, crush washer and nut. Pinon preload is set to 20 in/lb, with in spec and 9 thousandth back lash, with in spec, the gear paint shows good engagement. I'm at a loss. It's time to seek professional help. Hate to spend the money, but this needs to be setup right.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:28 am

Have you tried going back to the stock bushings?

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