Ok, for the last several months, may car has been making this noise that sounds to me like is coming from the rear end. I can hear it up til about 45-50 MPH and then I'm not sure if it goes away or if it's being drowned out by tire, wind or exhaust noise. It sounds kind of like a growling/howling sound to me. It's not high pitched, and it doesn't sound like a typical grinding noise. Now the strangest part to me is that it gets quite a bit louder when I'm coasting than when I'm accelerating. I have no idea what to think since I'm no mechanic, so I took it to the local Ford dealership yesterday.

I just got a call saying they diagnosed it as being a bad driveshaft carrier bearing and that my 1.5" lowering springs caused it to go bad prematurely. That interesting considering I've had the noise for longer than the car was lowered. They want $600+ for the part and $105 for the labor.

My car is less than a year old and approaching 13,000 miles. I've had another lowered Mustang (2008 GT/CS) and had no issues up to 52,000 miles when we traded it in.

First of all, what is a drive shaft carrier bearing? Second, is this a part that could be affected by the lowering? Could it be something else? I have the 3.73's and thought the noise might be coming from there since I've read about people having noisy rear ends with that gear.

 

Below is a driveshaft carrier bearing.. came from my old Isuzu when I went to a one-peace driveshaft. I did not know our Mustangs had carrier bearings on the driveshaft.


And yes if you change the "angle" of the drive shaft by lowering or raising a vehicle you stress the bearing and create the potential for failure.

 

I did a search and this came up as an OE Mustang Driveshaft with carrier bearing and an aftermarket one peace Aluminum..





Go Carbon Fiber...

 

Whoever did your lowering should have known to adjust the pinion angle.

As for noise in the 3.73's often that is reported by people that have never driven a Traction-Lock diff (particularly from the front wheel drive crowd where SRA is new to them ). They are not noise free as the clutch packs work. Excessive noise or whine could be the ring and pinion gears out of adjustment.

 

You still have to pay attention to the pinion angle when lowering regardless of 1 or 2 piece.

 

My cousin and I installed the springs and panhard bar. I didn't know an adjustment to the pinion angle was needed at that time. I've never installed springs before. I just watched a few YouTube videos and followed the instructions. Never saw any mention anywhere about pinion angle. Is that something I/we can adjust with basic tools or does it need to be done by a pro?

 

with such a small drop 1" the pinion angle shouldn't need adjusting. How far did they say it was off? If they didn't tell you ask them. You will need a adjustable upper control arm installed to you can adjust it. Also its weird that it would make the noise all the time instead of at certain speeds.

 

Interesting. Does this mean everyone who puts on 1 to 1.5" lowering springs needs to re-adjust the pinion angle?

 

A 1" is not a problem. It's been reported that 1.25" is ok as well.

However, beyond that, at 1.5", there is potential for there to be an angle problem with the rear driveshaft that could cause unwanted stresses. It is best to have the pinion angle checked at that lower amount and lower. It is better to check the angle than to pay the end result of not doing it and having this or a pinion be replaced.

Anything lower than 1.5" and you *definitely* should correct the angle.

 

I still want to know how far off the dealership says it is. I wonder if they saw aftermarket springs and just made the assumption?

 

They didn't give me any measurement or any paperwork since I didn't have them do the work. So I'm not sure how much it was off. I wouldn't doubt if you're right about them just blaming it on the springs.

 

Try a different dealer, see if they come back with the same response.

 

Do the notes the service people write up only show up in their dealership's system? Or, when you bring the car to another dealership will those same notes be there as if they're tied to the VIN no matter where you bring it?

 

I'm fairly certain only actual repairs to the vehicle will show in the system.

 

So if you load up your trunk and the rear of the car with +300lbs dropped 1", that wouldn't cause the bearing failure... but if you change the springs to lower it 1" it would? These pinion angle arguments aren't any good. No way it go bad in 13k miles when used in it's normal suspension travel unless there was already something wrong.

It's possibly the pinion, if the darn fluid spewed out the breather. Did they check the did fluid level? If the dealer did actually listen to the ds support bearing, bad bearings do happen. It took 140k miles to go bad on my escape. The lousy thing is it sounds like they want to replace the entire ds assy $$$, since they are balanced as an assy.

A set of stock springs and a different dealer who honors the 50k mile warranty you already paid for, is cheaper than a new ds. A second opinion on where the noise is actualy coming from is good regardless.

Good luck.

 

mine is pure stock and i got that axle whine as well.. apparently only i can hear it because noone else seems to hear it

 

Anything new on this post....cause my car was sitting in the garage for the winter and just gotnit out...went for a ride...and I hear thisnoise that I never heard before...

 

I bet it was always there but now since you know about it and are looking for it you will hear it. I have taken a few new Mustangs for a ride and they all had it with the track pack or 3.73.

 

Hey dantheman,

Are there any associated symptoms? Send over the year, current odometer reading, and preferred dealer; I'll look further into this.

Nikki
Ford Service CA

 

https://themustangsource.com/forums/...-noise-510240/


I am having a similar issue that started @ 10K and was addressed when ford swapped fluid for a leaking rear vent.

Now @ 28K miles and way before the lowering I started hearing my rear end. I think it is louder maybe because i have a panhard bar that is adjustable and has solid bushings.

I will be replacing it tomorrow with one from BMR. Will Report back since this bar will be much better, and will have polyurethane bushings...


Anyhow I took my car into the dealership on Friday and had a Service Manager Mike here in San Tan Valley confirm the whine while driving with me.

I will be taking my car in on Monday just not big fan of this... I did own a2001, and still own a 1997 and still have not had any issues like these...

I have a service rep Deysha on call if i needed.. - OP you should consider that too!

I would get in touch with your regional manager if possible.

It is known that these rear ends make noise regardless if you are lowered or not.
No offense to the Country of Mexico but yeah the Rear End was made there per some gear heads that confirmed or heard this.

I mean if it was going to be an issue then ford should not be selling 1.5" K springs to begin with...

I better not get pushback, I like San Tan Ford since they seem like a Family Ford Dealer... well see what happens!

FYI - my issue is that my car regardless of the load, speed, rpm, or height ( even stock, and now 1.5" ) this thing makes noise...