2001 Tacoma Drivetrain Noise

It's a good one. Used to come and go and now it's pretty constant. Initially, I would only hear it after letting up on the throttle when coasting or under very light throttle. Carrier bearing? U-joint? Rear diff? I was going to grab a carrier bearing and install that tomorrow to see what happens. Last time I drained the rear diff (several months ago) I didn't find a bunch of metal fyi.

https://youtu.be/5YrY24-1OZo

Let me know what you think.

(edit: updated with better video)

 

Taking her in today, but feel free to throw ideas at the wall.

 

I think you're on the right track with your bearing, but could definitely be a U-Joint as well. Are you getting any driveline vibrations?

 

I doubt it's the rear diff, if the diff was making noise like that you'd probably know something was wrong in a catastrophic way pretty quickly. I'd be looking at the carrier bearing, see if you can eyeball the bushing around it to see if it's falling apart and has a bunch of play. That or the u-joints like you said, they should be greased every so often but it's common for them to be over looked.

Does the sound speed up and slow down with the speed of the truck?

 

Spot on, it’s a u-joint! Appreciate the thoughts everyone.