Rear end squeal

I'm getting a squeal from the rear end of my 04 Ram quad cab 4wd. It increases and decreases in intensity with my speed.

docdave78 said:

I'm getting a squeal from the rear end of my 04 Ram quad cab 4wd. It increases and decreases in intensity with my speed.

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Breaks... parking break. The parking break pad can seperate from the metal. Making some nasty noises.

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I would guess bearings in the rearend probably the pinion bearings going bad. Does it change based on whether you are accelerating or coasting?

A squeal may most likely be brakes as bulldog said. But if it's more like a growl, rumble, or grinding noise, then the primary suspect is the pinion bearing as smiley said.

I recently had a pinion bearing failure at ~ 200K, and opted to rebuild the entire rear - including wheel bearings. Some of the pits that were in the pinion bearing race were up to 1/16" deep! The gears looked clean, so it looks like I caught it before it flew apart. I ended up replacing the following:
- Spider gear shaft lock bolt (It was broken at ~ the 2nd to the last thread, so the majority of the threaded part still held the "pin" part in place)
-Pinion bearing,crush sleeve, nut, and seal
-Limited Slip (aka Track Lock, etc) clutch plate assemblies (looked OK - probably not needed but I replaced them anyway)
-Carrier side bearings (looked OK - probably not needed but I replaced them anyway)
-Wheel bearings and seals (looked OK - probably not needed but I replaced them anyway)

I didn't have to change the pinion spacer, and for this differential the carrier bearings utilize adjustable spacers on each side.

The biggest pain was compressing the new clutch plates to reinstall the spider gears.

The gear contact pattern was only a little off so only minor adjustments for the carrier side adjusters was needed. It now sounds as quiet as factory new!

smiley3303 said:

I would guess bearings in the rearend probably the pinion bearings going bad. Does it change based on whether you are accelerating or coasting?

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What if the noise (whirrrring)? Stops when coasting then starts when accelerating?

squeal can also be loose lug nuts...i know...i thought i tightened mine enough and the squeal got louder and louder, when I took a torque wrench to it, they were loose ...