Rear end whine

[Josh Morlock]

I have an 05 ram 1500 4x4 that has a loud rear end whine while accelerating and cruising. At Around 35 the noise starts to get really loud and peaks at 45-55, as long as you are cruising the noise is there but as soon as you let off the gas it goes silent. Would this be a symptom of a bad pinion bearing?

 

[Daw14]

Is there any indication of a leak ?

 

[Josh Morlock]

No leaks or anything, and last I checked the fluid was still full and it looked good.

 

[zogg]

I’d suggest your ring and pinion are worn out. How many miles??

 

[Daw14]

You are going in the right direction.

 

[Wallyb4]

Is there any slop in your driveline? But I would agree with Zogg your ring and pinion is going bad.

 

[Josh Morlock]

158,200. I checked the fluid again, looks really good. I’ll have to find a rear end somewhere.

 

[GTyankee]

I would go to a Driveline Specialties shop, they do rear ends, front ends & drive shafts.

They will remove the inspection plate, that also drains your fluid.
Then they can look for chunks of metal & look at the metal shavings, they also inspect the Ring & Pinion Gears, etc.
Then they will tell you if gears are shot, whether or not they can adjust the axle shafts to close up the clearance between the Ring & Pinion.

If you do need new gears, new gears can be noisy or less noisy

Good Luck with the findings

 

[aRBee4863]

I have an 05 ram 1500 4x4 that has a loud rear end whine while accelerating and cruising. At Around 35 the noise starts to get really loud and peaks at 45-55, as long as you are cruising the noise is there but as soon as you let off the gas it goes silent. Would this be a symptom of a bad pinion bearing?

Oooh ooh! I know this one! Before you spend any money, check the rear differential pinion nut. If it's loose that'll cause your noise, I just tore apart my diff and swapped out gears while installing an LSD and the pinion nut was suspiciously loose and there were no metal shavings in the diff fluid.

 

[aRBee4863]

So I thought my issue was caused by bad gears, but in retrospect it was probably that pinion nut getting loose that caused the issue. There's even been a recall (you have the 9.25, right?) and they install a pinion nut keeper. If yours hasn't been by for the recall, they might even do the work for free at the dealer? worth a shot