Popping Noise Rear-End 2004 3500 SRW

[pecothern]

My father-in-laws truck makes a popping pinging noise one time when engaging in reverse. It does not make this sound when going back to forward . It doesn't make any weird noises driving down the road. The universal joints look fine the swing bearing is good. The sound sounds like it is coming from inside the rear-end specifically the yoke sticking out the front of the rear end. It almost seems like the yoke is wobbly? Surely it would be pouring out the front if that front bearing was that bad. I did post a youtube video. In the video one wheel is jacked up. The truck is in park. I am forcefully turning the tire back and forth left to right by hand. Its making the exact sound. BTW it has 320,000 miles on it. Engine runs great, transmission has been rebuilt twice. The engine noise in the video is a car driving by.

 

[Bloody_Knuckles]

Take the yoke off and see if the pinion nut is tight. Then if it is, examine the pinion bearing and seal. And after 320k miles, the ring and pinion might be worn out.

 

[Bloody_Knuckles]

You might be able to get a shim to take up the gear lash between the ring and pinion.

 

[pecothern]

Thanks everyone for the reply. The sound got worse and after close inspection, It turned out two of the 4 bolts that connect the drive shaft yoke to the rear end were slightly loose. We did have the driveshaft out a couple years ago when replacing the transmission for the 2nd time. I tightened them down and even though there is some slack the popping sound is gone. I probably should take them out and put loc-tite on them. For now we are happy.

 

[Bloody_Knuckles]

You should replace the bolts, not just tighten them.