Opinions/input request on what to do with my 22.

[idrivea2022tremor]

So I've had my truck in the shop, fow what is now, 5 times trying to correct a howl coming from the drive line. It's a very specific howl and very repeatable. On decel from 67 to 62 MPH (coasting) it howls like a banshee. Long story short, they rebuilt the rear end thinking it was pinion bearings. This didn't help and actually added a vibration to the drive line. They've just replaced the transfer case which didn't solve it. After replacing the transfer case they told me the backlash wasn't set when the pinion was rebuilt do they're rebuilding the rear axle a second time. Since they still have the truck and haven't called to have it picked up, i'm going to assume that didn't fix the issue.

He's where I'm looking for feedback/comments/opinions. It's been at the shop long enough that I could trigger a Lemon Law buy back if I so choose. If I do the lemon law buy back I don't know for certain what truck I would buy to replace it. Or do I keep the truck and either sell it private party or just keep it and hope a bearing doesn't fail while I'm towing something heavy. I'd have to go through the receipts, but I think I'm nearing in on 45 days of shop time for this same issue.

I'm torn here because it's a truck I custom ordered in a spec I wanted and went into thinking this was going to be a 20 year truck for me. But howling bearings and vibrations is just not something I'm going to live with. This is a work vehicle (as well as pleasure vehicle) and I need to feel confident it'll pull my tractors safely. It also has the multi contour seats which is quite nice. Probably would buy a F150 as I'm not sold on the 23+ superduties. They haven't grown on me yet.

2022 F250 King Ranch
Rapid Red
Tremor (obviously)
Carli Back Country
7.3
28,xxx miles

 

[HeavyAssault]

Considering your issue seems to fit into a VERY narrow performance range, and pending your acceptance after a REALLY long test drive I'd suggest you get the ESP from Granger.

 

[Kyleh9]

Was the noise and vibration present before the Carli? If not, have you considered taking it back to factory to see if it goes away?

 

[OmahaBravo]

when did the howling start? What mileage/timeframe? Was anything done to the truck AT ALL right before the howling? When i say anything i mean... if you put a sticker on the bumper, let us know (not trying to be funny). This removes any assumption on your part that its not related and allows a ton of resources on the forum to do make that elimination.

 

[esw004]

My 7.3 had that exact howl after installing carli pintop with deavers. Went back to stock before trading it in and it went away. Reinstalled the same deavers on the 6.7 Tremor I traded for, added the Carli Pinion Shim kit this go around, no howl. Best guess add those pinion shims and you should be fine.

Carli Suspension 2005-Current Ford 2° Pinion Shim Kit

Ideal pinion angle is 1°-3° in stock applications; this is the guideline we’ve always used. We’ve had a few customers report a driveline vibration around 70mph when under power from the rear driveline. All have provided specs withing the 1°-3° range. We brought an affected vehicle into the shop...

www.cjcoffroad.com

 

[VB!]

Find this part under the truck and remove it.

Yes, I know I'm no help.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

My 7.3 had that exact howl after installing carli pintop with deavers. Went back to stock before trading it in and it went away. Reinstalled the same deavers on the 6.7 Tremor I traded for, added the Carli Pinion Shim kit this go around, no howl. Best guess add those pinion shims and you should be fine.

Carli Suspension 2005-Current Ford 2° Pinion Shim Kit

Ideal pinion angle is 1°-3° in stock applications; this is the guideline we’ve always used. We’ve had a few customers report a driveline vibration around 70mph when under power from the rear driveline. All have provided specs withing the 1°-3° range. We brought an affected vehicle into the shop...

www.cjcoffroad.com

Yes, I had the same/similar howl to what the OP is describing, coming from my rear driveline after doing the full Carli catalogue on my 2021. Decel from 75-60ish it would make a groaning/howling sound almost like there was a semi 2-3 lanes over using it's Jake brakes, would diminish/go away entirely if I lightly hit the accelerator (guess that was just enough tension to lift the pinion and stop the noise which is what clued me in to looking into the shims).

After a couple emails back and forth with their customer service team, CJC sent me a set of shims and u-bolts for free and it went away entirely after I installed them.

 

[Leadmic]

Shim the rear end first like Tex-Hunter said. When you said they rebuilt the rear end did they do the ring and pinion or just bearings?

 

[DDD]

Have they thought of replacing the driveshaft? Or you thinking it’s definitely related to the Carli?

 

[HvacSciGuy]

My opinion/input on this situation is none of your poll suggestions. I say try the pinion shims and see what happens. I see enough evidence on here to believe that it would help. And if it doesn't go from there.

Coming from a guy whose wasted a whole lot of time and money before at attempting perfection, but still falling short. But I don't think it's worth getting rid of a truck you want to keep very long term. Every problem has a solution. You'll very likely find yours long before you justify the hassle and cost of finding a replacement truck.

 

[idrivea2022tremor]

If I'm completely honest, i don't know when it started. I'm trying to even remember what I was doing when I first heard it, it's been several months since i first heard it. Was a while after the carli install, probably 6-7K miles after the install. I do know the first attempt to fix the issue was to rebuild the rear pumpkin. They said the pinion bearings weren't installed corrected (which would imply manufacturing error). When I got it back from this fix there was a vibration at about 58-60 that wasn't there before the repair. And the howl was still there.

Other mods: air compressor, LEER shell, swing away tool box, air bags with cradles, A pillar lights, BMC fog lights, seat covers for the dog, factory mud flaps, wiring for jumper cables, that's it.

I hadn't considered pinion shims as I've been under the impression the carli full progressive pack would have kept the factory alignment. Especially since there's no lift to the rear. When I get the truck back I'll give them a try. I've actually been thinking about blocks to get rid of the tiny amount of rake the truck has after the install.

I should add, if you put the truck in neutral while the noise is present it will go away completely.

 

[idrivea2022tremor]

Considering your issue seems to fit into a VERY narrow performance range, and pending your acceptance after a REALLY long test drive I'd suggest you get the ESP from Granger.

I do have the ESP, bought it with the truck because all the electronics scare me. Turns out the thing Ford has been doing for nearly 120 years is actually the thing I should be more worried about.

 

[HeavyAssault]

Turns out the thing Ford has been doing for nearly 120 years is actually the thing I should be more worried about.

Yea....and possibly you didn't help it with the Carli kit now. With that...I'd work towards getting the howl issue addressed and fixed. No sense in dipping out on your built truck IF you were the source of the problem. You can make it a 20+ year truck, just need to be smart about getting the issue diagnosed. Plenty of people here can lean in to point you towards a good reliable fix. Don't give up!!

 

[idrivea2022tremor]

I appreciate all the feedback and information coming in from you all. I'm hoping to hear from the dealership today with an update from the second differential rebuild. I'm hopeful the correct backlash and pretension settings address this issue. But I'm not confident.

For $80 I'm going to try the Carli tapers and cross my fingers, it's a cheap part to try and fix this.

 

[idrivea2022tremor]

Shim the rear end first like Tex-Hunter said. When you said they rebuilt the rear end did they do the ring and pinion or just bearings?

The first rebuild was a about 3 months ago so I don't recall. I want to say they replaced the whole carrier assembly with new pinion.

 

[brokenfoot]

Parroting others, add 2 or 3 degree shims between the leaf springs and the rear axle.

The small side of the wedge faces the front of the truck. The larger side of the wedge faces the rear. What you are doing is correcting the axle being rotated forward and down away from the transmission/driveshaft which is exacerbated adding a taller lift.

Over on the tacomaworld forums, the shims are always considered a necessity.

Fingers crossed this solves the issue. Its a super simple fix it it is!

Also consider replacing the ubolts as they are more or less a one time use item after being torqued down, the ubolts threads stretch when torqued.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

I appreciate all the feedback and information coming in from you all. I'm hoping to hear from the dealership today with an update from the second differential rebuild. I'm hopeful the correct backlash and pretension settings address this issue. But I'm not confident.

For $80 I'm going to try the Carli tapers and cross my fingers, it's a cheap part to try and fix this.

You'll need new U'Bolts too, they arent re-useable. Call the dealer that sold you the parts for the Carli kit they might send them out for free. I emailed CJC (I bought the kit from them, and they did the install) when I was ordering the shims for mine because I didnt see U-bolts listed on their website and they sent me the shims and U-bolts free of charge.

Since you are talking about potentially doing a small rear block though, might want to go with PMF for a set of their tapered blocks, kill two birds with one stone there for only a little extra money.

2017-26 Ford Superduty Fabricated Blocks-PMF-FBLK30-

www.pmfsuspension.com

They make sizes from 1" to 10" and tapers from 1.25 to up to 5 degrees. Theres a couple guys on here who added the 1-1.5" blocks with 2.5 degree taper to their Carli kits (I'd probably order with bumpstop tangs so that you still have the correct clearance to the stops since you are moving the axle further away).

 

[DDD]

Great perspectives as always on this forum. I would vote to keep it since it’s a 22, like mine. The last year of the super sleek look since Ford won’t ever go back to that in my lifetime. The footholds in the bumper are industry-wide now, and while they offer some practicality, I just like the looks of my 22. Hope you can get these problems resolved so you can enjoy the truck.

 

[idrivea2022tremor]

You'll need new U'Bolts too, they arent re-useable. Call the dealer that sold you the parts for the Carli kit they might send them out for free. I emailed CJC (I bought the kit from them, and they did the install) when I was ordering the shims for mine because I didnt see U-bolts listed on their website and they sent me the shims and U-bolts free of charge.

Since you are talking about potentially doing a small rear block though, might want to go with PMF for a set of their tapered blocks, kill two birds with one stone there for only a little extra money.

2017-26 Ford Superduty Fabricated Blocks-PMF-FBLK30-

www.pmfsuspension.com

They make sizes from 1" to 10" and tapers from 1.25 to up to 5 degrees. Theres a couple guys on here who added the 1-1.5" blocks with 2.5 degree taper to their Carli kits (I'd probably order with bumpstop tangs so that you still have the correct clearance to the stops since you are moving the axle further away).

I'm leaning toward the PMF blocks only because I have a bit of Carolina squat and I'm not a fan. But I need my truck back before I order them so I can measure how much block space I'd like. This is something I was thinking about doing before / regardless of the howl because I don't like the squat. If I can make it a two birds, one stone situation I'm all the happier.