Q: Rear axle howl?

[foxbodyfan]

Hi again everyone.
Having one of those days. Thought I'd ask on here before I got too far into my teardown of my rear axle.

Just got my 89's interior put back together, thought I was done. Took it on a short road trip and when driving, we can hear a noticably loud howl from the rearend. We swapped tires and it was still there. It really sounds like it is coming from the center, but hard to tell, it is just a loud 'whop, whop, whop, ect.
Guy before me bought this car in 97 with 67K on it and he said he had to replace the rear axles, they were 'bent', he was not sure why. That was the only thing he did to the car while he had it other than routine maint.

We lifted up the car last night. There is some play in the pass. rear side. We can hear a noticable grown in the pass. rear side where the bearing is just inside the axle.
We are going to tear it apart today and replace the bearings on both sided.
Question I have, is there something else I should be looking for. The car has 122K on it. Just seems like a lot of rear end repair for a car with 122K on it.
Has anyone else had any issues like this before???? Is there something I should be looking for?
I appreciate any and all thoughts.
Thanks again

[foxbodyfan]

found the issue, at least what I hope is the issue, pass. wheel bearing wore a groove in the axle. Replacing axle and bearings. When prev. owner changed axles, he must have gotten used ones, there are 2 different wear patterns on the axle. We will know in a few days

[S281SC]

Remember - you need the 1.25" longer SVO rear axles - not standard fox body axles.

[foxbodyfan]

Thanks for reminding me. I forgot about that, had it not been a holiday weekend,I'd have had the wrong ones on the way.

Thanks!

[foxbodyfan]

where would be the best place to look for a good set.
I usually go thru CJ's or american muscle, but I cannot see any specs on what I look at to be sure I have the right ones.

[S281SC]

I believe most are getting them from Superior or Moser.

http://saleenforums.soec.org/showpos...55&postcount=8

[foxbodyfan]

Thanks again, this helps.
Going to try to get a set coming tomorrow when things open back up.

[foxbodyfan]

That took longer than I thought. Finally got ahold of a tech at Moser, they had a set. Should be here friday. Their exact length was 30 13/64.
We will see in a few days if they are the correct ones....
Thanks again for all the help, it is very much appreciated.

[foxbodyfan]

Got the axle's today. They, when side by side, 3/16" shorter, and the c-clip groove is about 40thousands larger, allowing for more axle movement.
These look like they will work, but are not exact. Going to call Moser when they open back up on Monday...

[foxbodyfan]

Well, for FYI for anyone who might need it in the future. I got a set of axles from Moser, their info shows that the 89 Saleen took a 30-13/64 axle length. This is the same axle that they show goes in the Mark VII. The ones that I took out were 30-1/2. I put the new ones in and the rotors rubbed on the brake calipers due to being too short. It was close, about 10 thousandths would have cleared. I called Moser and the sent me a set of 30-1/2, which is in their books for the SVO. Got them in tonight and they worked fine. Hope that this info will help if anyone else is going down the same road I did.

[Dave]

Congrats on you axles and thanks for sharing your experience!

From my memory the 1984-1986 Mustang SVO axles were shared with the 1982–1987 4-door Lincoln Continental.

I could be mistaken, but I believe the 1984-1992 2-door Lincoln Mark VII had ABS and a gear on the axle.

[foxbodyfan]

Thanks Dave, it was a learning experience. I was not sure orginally so I talked with the Ford dealer in town and he could not find anything on the Saleen, but had the 30-13/64 size for the lincoln. In the end, Moser's tech said apparently both lengths were used in the Saleens, so just had to go with what was in the car. It's been a while since turning wrenches, so this had me stumped. I just went off the information that I got off of this forum and other Saleen owners on facebook. Lots of knowledge to draw from, and it helped a lot!
I'm am very happy that it is back on the road, have a Mustang show this weekend, so looking forward to putting a few miles on it.
Thanks again.