Center of left rear axle too hot to touch on 1986 Ford F-150.

Asked by 86trucklover Aug 22, 2013 at 04:58 PM about the 1986 Ford F-150

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Left rear axle in center of wheel on my 1986 Ford F-150 gets too hot to touch after driving 15 miles @ 55 MPH. In  the last 4 weeks, had new brakes, lines, etc installed on all four wheels. Brakes are releasing, not dragging. Parking brake is not the problem. Had a new left rear axle w/ bearing installed (old one was bent. No idea how that happened.). Truck has never been in an accident, has 131,796 original miles, 2 wd, starts right up and runs great. Differential gears seem fine, fluid ok. Had trans oil, filter, etc changed. For the last 2 years, truck was only driven 1 mile each year. Nothing is leaking on either rear wheel.

What's causing this? I'm keeping the truck, just getting frustrated w/ all this work and the same problem remains. Thanks for your help

1 Answer

57,865

If the brakes aren't dragging then the only other source of friction is the wheel bearing. It may be that the diff oil level is low enough to allow the gear oil to drain back off of the bearings, but I don't think so. A good Gear Oil has ingredients that will coat surfaces and last a long time. Keep in mind that the entire differential assembly's cooling system is the entire differential assembly its self.

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