Rear Diff. high pitch wine... :-/

Just looking for a little knowledge on how to proceed:

I've had a moderately noticeable wine from the rear end for a while now (20,000 miles). Yesterday it went to a very loud (probably should wear ear plugs) wine above 50 to 55mph that is even worse at neutral torque.

My assumption is it's the rear diff going. Correct?

I also assume I should fix that ASAP. My questions for y'all are:

Rebuild with new internals? Replace with used axle or parts? Do it myself or pay the labor? Total $$$ ?

I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but I've never done this project on any vehicle before. I'm also not sure if this project would require and special tools such as pullers or bearing press etc...?

Any advice or experiences would be very helpful.

Thank you!

 

It would be way easier to just swap out a whole diff assembly. This is what I would do. Then Rebuild my old one for fun.

 

first be 100% sure the noise is coming from your rear differential. I've seen this type of noise come from the carrier bearing on the driveline (not sure if you have one or not). If it is in fact the rear end it means the hard-facing on the gears has worn off so you'll need to replace the gears, typically everything else in there will be fine. i would not recommend swapping the gears yourself. setting the gear mesh perfectly is very important and directly related to the life of the gears. if set wrong new gears could last you as little as 500 miles....ask me how i know

 

Do the simple things first !

Check oil in the rear pumpkin ! Check axle seals left and right rear to see if you are loosing fluid.

Check the U joints
Check the carrier bearing.
Then if replacement is warranted, do as Bebop recommended : swap the whole axle Assy.

 

Sorry, should have mentioned that I did have the fluid changed about 2 months ago. No leaks reported. Carrier bearing... How do ya check that, just yard back and forth on the drive shaft?? I copy, entire axle assembly sounds more like something I could pull off on the lift at the neighbors.

my_rtt_and_me : Good info, thank you. I'd much rather do things myself, however I know when I shouldn't, and it sounds like I shouldn't. :-/

 

take the drive shaft off and spin the carrier by hand to see if it makes noise. it should be silent. Ive had a "tight" carrier bearing with no sign of wear make a similar noise to what you're describing. however, if it is the carrier bearing, the noise wont change when coasting/under acceleration/ decel. if the noise changes under any of those its 100% the hard face on the gears

 

Yes, it definitely changes with change in load on the drive system. The wine nearly disappears under deceleration when still in gear, same in neutral. It's loudest under neutral torque then diminishes slightly as you roll on the power. So, sounds like hard faces.... new gears time. :-/. ...or the whole axle assembly as mentioned.

 

yeah then its forsure the hard facing of the gears worn off on the drive side

 

How many miles did you have on the fluid before you changed it? being a 2010 i bet it was north of 100k.

Your pinion bearings are donzo which has taken out your ring and pinion gears. You changed the fluid which actually washed away the sludge in the bearing pockets making the bearings looser and making the noise worse.

After you get things changed, run the break in oil for 5k miles... then change rear diff every 30k after that.

 

Drove my son's Jeep Grand Cherokee the other day and ran into the same issue.

Howling noise when drive system is under torque, let off the gas+ noise disappears.

Give it gas and load the drives system (Torque) and the howling noise returns.

Put it on the rack, inspected drive train, found the forward drive shaft t, from transfer case to front pumpkin, had the fwd boot torn and foreign object damage inside . Replace drive shaft , all is well.

Before deciding on a probably cause., make a thorough inspection of all possibilities.

Good Luck !

Hate to say it ; either way it will cost you $$

 

Here ya go..

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rearend-whine.407373/

 

Thanks for all the info, and for the link to the thread! Sorry i didn't do a good enough search before posting... Inspection time tonight.

Any tips on where to find a reasonably priced rear assembly? Or parts?

 

Junkyard?

 

Do yourself a favor. do it right one time, new ring, new pinion, new pinion bearings and diff bearings.

 

East coast gear supply is the way to go, and usually the cheapest option for rebuild.

If you're feeling crazy I have a complete rear end with e-locker 3rd for 950$:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/complete-rear-e-locker-diff-3-73-gears.532577/

 

Here is a link to the ECGS page you need :

https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-788575-tacoma-8-4-non-eld-t100-tundra-3rd.html

 

My uncle has an 02 XJ with almost 300k on it, he’s replaced that front shaft multiple times.

 

Thank you!

 

Any of you fine people know what the stock gear ratio on my 3rd member is??

2010 Tacoma, SR5, V6, 6spd manual. No mods. No rear locker. Pretty basic little truck.

 

Your axle code is on a sticker in the drivers door jamb. 4 digits - something like "A04B"

here is how you decode it (copy and pasted from another thread):

A = 8.0"/205mm
B = 8.8"/225mm

01 = 3.583:1
02 = 4.100:1
03 = 3.153:1
04 = 3.727:1
05 = 3.307:1
06 = 4.300:1
07 = 3.909:1

A = Open
B = E-Locker
C = Limited Slip Differential