Ive got my truck in for a transmission upgrade at my local DTT installer. Short story is he's been working on this truck for a week trying to track down various problems. The latest is something I hadnt experienced before, seems like its just started to randomly howl from the rear end.
The universals are ok. That leaves the pinion and axle bearings? This is a 4wd so theres no carrier bearing (?) Im guessing the axle bearing is the most likely culprit, having seen them pop in the POS chevy I had before this truck.
Ive had some noises and skipping from the rear end in tight turns which I assumed was the clutch packs that needed replacing, or just normal chatter from a OEM LSD.
Any of you guys had this before? what was the resolution?

 

Last year I had a drivetrain noise that could just barely be heard but I knew it was there. Thought it might be the hanger bearing but not that. Next opened the diff and turned out to be the carrier bearings were bad. It is a Dana 70 rear, and Spicer has a bearing kit for them. This rear was not howling but probably would have sooner or later. Dont know if this helps you or not but thats my experence with rear end noise. Regards...no more noise

 

Any ideas on cost for a shop to rebuild a diff?