Does the whine associated with the 3.73 gears pose any problem down the road or is it more of just an annoyance?

 

It depends on now bad the whine is. 3.73's will whine more than a 3.31 or 3.55 but overall should still be fairly quiet.

Did the gears always whine or did they gradually get noisier?

 

Well I only have 400 miles on it and just recently took it out and got it up above 65 for more than a few seconds...that's when I noticed it. If I put the clutch in it stopped. Not super loud but noticeable....just wondering if it can cause issues.

 

Is it noisier under acceleration, deceleration, steady speed, or is it the same all of the time?

 

I only noticed it at a steady speed...it seemed to stop when I let off the gas..

 

3.73's can be a little funny. In that I mean they can be fickle. It doesn't take much to make them whiny. The lash just may be a little on the loose side of the spec range. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong. It just means they will be a bit noisy. I have found with the 3.73 that they will sometimes whine at a specific speed then maybe 10mph faster the nose disappears altogether. My guess is with your issue that the noise runs out at about 75 MPH.

 

As long as it isn't/doesn't cause a problem I can live with it....if they start tearing it apart it might just cause more issues.

 

My 2014 TP had pretty bad gear whine at first. Within the first 300 miles it reduced a lot. Now with over 6k miles I can only hear it between 65 and 70, and with the windows up and radio off. And I have to be looking for it. If the noise level is not bugging you then don't sweat it.

 

My track pack 3:73 whines a bit. Noticeable if you listen for it but you can also forget about it. Seems that higher speed (more gear loading from wind resistance) it may be marginally louder - some speeds goes away. I chalk it up to a little bit more complicated gearing than comes in the standard slush-o-matic cars.

 

My 2011 whines, but I've only heard that this is normal for these cars. At 30k miles and, knock on wood, no problems so far.

 

Hi,
I have just bought a 2014 5.0 GT, 15,000 miles, I'm in the UK so I have no warranty with ford but I do have a year parts and labour cover..
basically i'm getting a whining noise from the box in all gears except 5th, which i'm guessing is straight through gear..
1st and second are the loudest and it gets louder with acceleration.
also clunky going into gear..
I am going to check the oil etc this weekend but reading some posts on here probably won't make a lot of defference.
i'm hoping I haven't bought a turkey!!
any advice would be greatly apreiciated.
thanks
Paul

 

I'm pretty sure it is just an annoyance.
I have about 30K miles on my 3.73's (85K on the car) and they've been whining at me the whole time, but no noticeable problems yet.

 

Be careful when you head down this slipper slope. Mine howled like it had straight cut gears, from day 1. I finally had time to take it in and they rebuilt my rear end. The whine went away for a while, but then it came back (albeit not as loud as it was the first time, and not even that bad), but it also brought with it a rotational chirping sound/vibration on tip-in and let-off. That, I could not deal with. I've been fighting with the dealer and Ford ever since, for them to fix it again. The dealer was willing, Ford wouldn't let them unless my suspension was back to stock. So, I called their hand and put it back to stock. I'm taking it back in on Monday.

To be continued...

 

The issue is most dealers do not understand how to properly setup a differential. The fact is they just don't do enough of it. I could tell some stories but I don't have that long. LOL. The fact is no one pays much attention to pinion depth anymore. You hear folks say all the time. "Just use the stock pinion shim over again". The fact is that could be right, but it's most likely wrong...... If pinion depth is incorrect you aren't going to get the gears to setup properly by simply shimming the carrier in or out. So this is my methodology.

1. Make certain pinion depth is spot on.
2. Set the pre-load on the pinion
3. set up the lash with a dial indicator.

These are the big three. If any one of these is off and the driver experience won't be fun. I have installed a hundred or so ring and pinions into 8.8 differentials and the 8.8 differential is forgiving (meaning you will still get lots of longevity with gears that aren't spot on but could also be accompanied by noise) but these are the three most important factors.

Use new bearings and races when appropriate. Always use a new crush sleeve.

 

Mine has whined at 65-70mph and then again at 80mph since day one. I stopped hearing it when I put my GT500 quads on.

 

This doesn't surprises me in the least. And the more I learn about the rear ends, the more I don't trust the dealer to know what they're doing. I almost just took it to a performance shop to pay to have it fixed right, but figured I'd give the dealer another shot since they suspected the gears and/or differential may be bad too (at this point). So if it needed new everything, I figure it could be on their dime, and I'll still consider having a real shop set the pinion correctly, and get a new adjustable UCA and heavy duty mount at the same time.

 

A good reputable transmission shop should be able to handle the differential as well. Your I wish I lived closer I could help you set it up. They aren't too difficult.

 

The first time they rebuilt it, I was lowered on H&R Supersports and stock UCA. I tried adding the adjustable UCA and heavy duty mount, and new LCAs with relo brackets to try and get rid of the vibration/whine, thinking the pinion angle was off because of the stock UCA. They tried to blame the noise on the UCA, even though the angle was closer to being within spec with the adjustable.

Wish you were closer too!

 

I'm curious, just how difficult is swapping gears? I've been playing with the idea of doing it myself since it doesn't seem that difficult and it would save a TON of money. I already have the tools (including an indicator) and I build automotive tooling for a living so I imagine it's really not that different then what I'm familiar with.

Rear ends and transmissions are about the only two parts of a car I still don't have experience with. Hell I don't even think I've seen the inside of a diff in person. I still feel like I should be able to tackle it with some decent instructions. Then again, don't want to tear into it and find that I can't finish and have to tow the **** thing to a shop.

 

That's why I haven't popped my pumpkin either haha. Plus I don't have anyone around that could help me move the axle around if I removed it completely to ease working on it.