I have a '91 Dodge Dakota 4x4. When driving down the road i can hear a
"humming" type of noise coming from the back of the truck. No i don't
have big nobbie snow tires on it. It only does it while i accelerate,
when i let off the pedel it will stop. I also noticed when going around
a turn, it has a metal to metal "grinding" noise like the axle is going
to slide right out of the rear housing.

It sounds like the rear is shot to me. Anyone else have this problem or
know what it may be? I know it doesn't have anything to do with the
tranny or transfer case cause i had those completely rebuilt.
Any help would be appreciated!

Spooky wrote:
> I have a '91 Dodge Dakota 4x4. When driving down the road i can hear a
> "humming" type of noise coming from the back of the truck. No i don't
> have big nobbie snow tires on it. It only does it while i accelerate,
> when i let off the pedel it will stop. I also noticed when going around
> a turn, it has a metal to metal "grinding" noise like the axle is going
> to slide right out of the rear housing.
>
> It sounds like the rear is shot to me. Anyone else have this problem or
> know what it may be? I know it doesn't have anything to do with the
> tranny or transfer case cause i had those completely rebuilt.
> Any help would be appreciated!
>

This is a real common problem with Dodge diffs. The carrier bearings don't last
nearly as long as they should. They usually only last 60-80K miles, so you did
pretty well with a 15 year old truck.
Sounds like you need a rebuild. My '95 Ram needed it at 70K, and my '01 Dakota
need it at 65K. With LSD and new gears, that runs about $850 around here (CO).
If you do much off roading, or drive in heavy snow a lot, you should consider a
worm gear drive instead of LSD. It's a tad more expensive (<$100), but a whole lot
stronger and works better.

--
..boB
Arrived: 2006 FXDI, Red.
1997 HD FXDWG - Turbocharged Stolen 11/26/05 in Denver
1HD1GEL10VY3200010 CO License J5822Z
2001 Dodge Dakota QC 5.9/4x4/3.92
1966 Mustang Coupe - Daily Driver
1965 FFR Cobra - 427W EFI, Damn Fast.

Thanks for the reply. I guess i got quite a bit of use out of the rear
before showing any signs of trouble, considering i have 138K on it now.
Thanks for the help!
Spooky