My 2004 F150 FX4 is making a terrible noise coming from the left rear tire area. It sounds like dragging metal and broken glass put together. I've searched all over to find the reason for the noise, but can't. Any ideas what it could be? I just had new tires put on 3 days ago - could that be a reason?

SOURCE: 2004 F150 FX4 tire prussure light light

go to the dealership

SOURCE: My 2004 F-150 2WD is making a clanking noise on front left tire

The sway bar linkage probably came undone on one of the sides. Wikipedia has a picture of what your sway bar linkage may look like:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sway_bar

That is a picture of a Porsche sway bar, but the idea is the same. Make sure all bolts are tight and that one end is not missing the linkage that connects it to the spring/strut. The grinding of the brakes may be the sound of the linkage piece touching the rotor. Sway bar is a logical solution to both issues.

If that doesn't fix the issue, put the front end of the truck on blocks or jack stands and have somebody wiggle the tire up/down and side to side while you inspect the mechanical components underneath. Other things to check may be the ball joints, tie rod ends and suspension bits.

SOURCE: someone cut my spare tire mount on my 2002,f150

take a grinder and cut the ribits then go to the junk yard or dealer to get one bolt that one up there in place

SOURCE: Terrible vibration - 2004 Ford F-150 5.4L

It sounds like when ford rebuilt your rearend they didn't set the gear lash correctly. What is happening is that when your truck cools down the gears are contracting and they are not aligning properly because they did not set the lash right when they installed your ring and pinion gear. When the gears heat up they may be freeing up. Ultimately this will end up chewing your new rear end to pieces. It is only a matter of time. It could also be the pinion bearing, if the tech put your pinion bearing on with an impact wrench it will fail in a short time. It needs to be put on by hand with a torque wrench. Some ideas to look into, it may not be whats going on, but it sure sounds like it.

SOURCE: rear axle removal on a 2004 f150 fx4

First thing is to make sure you chock the front tires so the truck will not roll. Raise the rear end and set it on jack stands. Put the transmission in Neutral and make sure the parking brake is off. Remove the rear tires and disassemble the brakes on the side with the leaking seal. Place a drain pan under the rear differential and remove the cover. Remove the differential shaft lock bolt. You will need to turn the drive shaft by hand to access the bolt. It will be on the right side off the spider gear housing. Only use a 5/16 or 8mm 6 point box end wrench to remove the bolt. After you remove the bolt reach on the top of the spider gear housing and push the differential lock shaft down to remove it. Make sure the spider gears do not rotate after you remove the shaft. If they do you will need to realign everything to reinstall the lock shaft. Push the axle shaft in enough to remove the "C" clip from the tip of it. The axle will now slide out of the rear end. You can use the tip of the axle shaft to remove the axle seal. If you're changing the bearing as well you will need a slide hammer with axle bearing adapters to remove it. You can use a socket and hammer to install the new bearing and seal. Be careful not to damage the bearing and seal. I recommend packing grease in the back side of the seal. This helps prevent the spring on the seal lip from coming off. Assembly is the reverse. Clean off all the gear oil from the differential cover and the axle. You can use RTV as a gasket if the OEM gasket is damaged. Fill the rear end with new gear oil of the proper type. Refer to your owner's manual.