no drive to rear wheels

[paj]

got into van today drove to junction at bottom of road when pulling away heard knocking from rear carried on driving and knocking got worse so pulled up couldnt see anything wrong underneath so tried to drive on but i had lost drive to rear wheels the prop shaft is going around and thats it, always had small leak from diff since buying van last year ,planning to take diff inspection plate off tomorrow but not quiet sure what to look for,any advice greatly appreciated .cheers

[MinorMatt]

take the plate off and it will be pretty obvious if its fubar'd

I dont know what van/truck you have but I know where there is a good quiet 6 stud axle (single wheeler) for a 91-00

[paj]

Forgot to say it's a 2005 long wheelbase ,single wheel.you sayit will be obvious if it's knackered will I be looking at broken cogs or what?.my thought was to remove plate and then put into gear and slowly engage drive and see if anything in diff moves if it does then would think maybe something to do with half shafts if it doesn't then it's diff

[MinorMatt]

If its the diff there will be broken gears or missing teeth

[paj]

So if I don't see broken teeth etc is that a good sign that it's repairable if so what should I looking at

[paj]

got inspection plate off anf found alot of broken metal amongst the oil so just going to replace axle found one on ebay from a 350 long wheelbase transit 2006 but it doesnt give axle ratio mine is a 5.13 are they all this ratio on long wheelbase?

[angeleye]

no not all 5.13 if its 4.77 or similar and it fits put that on it will bring the revs down more mpg (unless you towing a lot of weight)

[paj]

spoke to person who is selling axle ,he doesnt know what ratio it is ,just that it came from a 2006 high roof long wheelbase,he can get the engine number is it poss to get info on van from engine number?

[Altransit]

If it's the original axle from that van, we can tell from the VIN number or registration number
Engine number is no help

[paj]

decided to buy axle and fitted it sunday/monday its got no leaks and everything seems ok except for a rumbling noise at around 65/75 mph and its only there when i take foot of accelerator if i put foot back down it goes, below 60 its not there at all.this was my first attempt at replacing an axle and i tried to follow manual to the letter but the only thing i forgot to do was mark the splined end of the propshaft when i took it off, could this be the cause?