Rear axle grinding/whirl noise while driving...

[ben550]

My coworker has a 2005 Sport 4WD V6. He knows I am a big 4runner guy so he mentioned to me that he was having an issue with his truck. He has a grinding noise coming from what seems to be the rear of his 4runner. I took a ride with him to hear it and it definitely sounds like its coming from the rear axle. I jumped in the trunk while he was driving to try to hear better. It sounded like it was a whirling noise coming from the axle. No noticeable vibrations.

He recently had his rear brakes replaced.
He took it to a Toyota technician who performed a diagnostic on it. The tech initially thought it was a wheel bearing. He put it up on the lift and checked each wheel with his stethoscope thing. They all checked out as ok. He changed out the differential fluids from front and rear and did not find any excessive metal in the fluid. He changed the transfer case and fluid was good. He lubed the drive shaft/joints. The noise is still there and unchanged.

Ive had a front wheel bearing go bad and know the sound. This was different. It could be the gears but based on the fluid change it doesn't seem to be the differential itself...

Could it be the parking brake is seized? His gas mileage seems to be average so i don't think its an engaged brake.

The noise is most noticeable while going 20-40 mph especially when coasting to a stop. The noise does not go away when shifting into neutral while still rolling at that speed.

Could it be road noise from the tires. It is a stock 4runner with what seem to be all season tires. He is about to get his tires changed... we'll see if that solves the issue. Tires were rotated from front to rear and the noise was unchanged.


What do you think? Any thoughts as to what this could be?

 

[TechWrench]

My coworker has a 2005 Sport 4WD V6. He knows I am a big 4runner guy so he mentioned to me that he was having an issue with his truck. He has a grinding noise coming from what seems to be the rear of his 4runner. I took a ride with him to hear it and it definitely sounds like its coming from the rear axle. I jumped in the trunk while he was driving to try to hear better. It sounded like it was a whirling noise coming from the axle. No noticeable vibrations.

He recently had his rear brakes replaced.
He took it to a Toyota technician who performed a diagnostic on it. The tech initially thought it was a wheel bearing. He put it up on the lift and checked each wheel with his stethoscope thing. They all checked out as ok. He changed out the differential fluids from front and rear and did not find any excessive metal in the fluid. He changed the transfer case and fluid was good. He lubed the drive shaft/joints. The noise is still there and unchanged.

Ive had a front wheel bearing go bad and know the sound. This was different. It could be the gears but based on the fluid change it doesn't seem to be the differential itself...

Could it be the parking brake is seized? His gas mileage seems to be average so i don't think its an engaged brake.

The noise is most noticeable while going 20-40 mph especially when coasting to a stop. The noise does not go away when shifting into neutral while still rolling at that speed.

Could it be road noise from the tires. It is a stock 4runner with what seem to be all season tires. He is about to get his tires changed... we'll see if that solves the issue. Tires were rotated from front to rear and the noise was unchanged.


What do you think? Any thoughts as to what this could be?

Without more info, I would suspect the rear brakes. One way to help to diagnose the noise, without taking anything apart, is to apply the brakes while the noise is being generated. If the noise changes, or goes away it is probably the brakes. Try this with both the regular brakes and the parking brakes.

 

[nevada]

My coworker has a 2005 Sport 4WD V6. He knows I am a big 4runner guy so he mentioned to me that he was having an issue with his truck. He has a grinding noise coming from what seems to be the rear of his 4runner. I took a ride with him to hear it and it definitely sounds like its coming from the rear axle. I jumped in the trunk while he was driving to try to hear better. It sounded like it was a whirling noise coming from the axle. No noticeable vibrations.

He recently had his rear brakes replaced.
He took it to a Toyota technician who performed a diagnostic on it. The tech initially thought it was a wheel bearing. He put it up on the lift and checked each wheel with his stethoscope thing. They all checked out as ok. He changed out the differential fluids from front and rear and did not find any excessive metal in the fluid. He changed the transfer case and fluid was good. He lubed the drive shaft/joints. The noise is still there and unchanged.

Ive had a front wheel bearing go bad and know the sound. This was different. It could be the gears but based on the fluid change it doesn't seem to be the differential itself...

Could it be the parking brake is seized? His gas mileage seems to be average so i don't think its an engaged brake.

The noise is most noticeable while going 20-40 mph especially when coasting to a stop. The noise does not go away when shifting into neutral while still rolling at that speed.

Could it be road noise from the tires. It is a stock 4runner with what seem to be all season tires. He is about to get his tires changed... we'll see if that solves the issue. Tires were rotated from front to rear and the noise was unchanged.


What do you think? Any thoughts as to what this could be?

based on the description, I would guess rear axle bearings. possibly carrier. but it doesn't matter which it is, they would all need to be replaced, IF any of them are bad.

 

[ben550]

based on the description, I would guess rear axle bearings. possibly carrier. but it doesn't matter which it is, they would all need to be replaced, IF any of them are bad.

Whats the best way to test the rear wheel bearing? How bout the carrier? He said the technician checked the wheel bearings but I'd like to check them myself. It wouldn't be the first time a tech missed the issue.

 

[nevada]

Whats the best way to test the rear wheel bearing? How bout the carrier? He said the technician checked the wheel bearings but I'd like to check them myself. It wouldn't be the first time a tech missed the issue.

get it up on stands so you can run it in gear, then check it with a stethoscope. you should be able to locate where the sound is coming from. check all over the differential, and at the axle ends.

 

[ben550]

That's exactly what the tech did from what I was told. He didn't find anything...

 

[gm350reratliff]

Lift it up on stands. Put the trans in neutral (don't forget to chock the front tires). Remove the rear wheels and secure the rotor with a few of the lugnuts (may need so washers or spacers, depending on lugnut length). Roll the rotor by hand while listening and feeling. If the wheel bearing is bad you can probably feel it, almost like rolling across small indentations. If not, start it, dis-able traction control, with someone in the drivers seat holding the brakes, place the trans in 1 and let it come up to speed. Then go to 2, then 3, etc, until the noise appears. It should be more obvious were the noise is coming from at this point.

 

[tH1e swiN1e]

Literally just went through something that sounds just like this. Mine ended up being my e-brake... easy, cheap fix.

 

[ThatOneT4RGuy]

My coworker has a 2005 Sport 4WD V6. He knows I am a big 4runner guy so he mentioned to me that he was having an issue with his truck. He has a grinding noise coming from what seems to be the rear of his 4runner. I took a ride with him to hear it and it definitely sounds like its coming from the rear axle. I jumped in the trunk while he was driving to try to hear better. It sounded like it was a whirling noise coming from the axle. No noticeable vibrations.

He recently had his rear brakes replaced.
He took it to a Toyota technician who performed a diagnostic on it. The tech initially thought it was a wheel bearing. He put it up on the lift and checked each wheel with his stethoscope thing. They all checked out as ok. He changed out the differential fluids from front and rear and did not find any excessive metal in the fluid. He changed the transfer case and fluid was good. He lubed the drive shaft/joints. The noise is still there and unchanged.

Ive had a front wheel bearing go bad and know the sound. This was different. It could be the gears but based on the fluid change it doesn't seem to be the differential itself...

Could it be the parking brake is seized? His gas mileage seems to be average so i don't think its an engaged brake.

The noise is most noticeable while going 20-40 mph especially when coasting to a stop. The noise does not go away when shifting into neutral while still rolling at that speed.

Could it be road noise from the tires. It is a stock 4runner with what seem to be all season tires. He is about to get his tires changed... we'll see if that solves the issue. Tires were rotated from front to rear and the noise was unchanged.


What do you think? Any thoughts as to what this could be?

Any idea what it was I’m having the same issue now with my 05 sr5 v8 4x4

 

[iBison]

Going through this now, started while I was in wyoming in August and has gotten progressively worse. Mine it's the pinion bearing most likely, or diff. Pros, it's easy to change, cons it's $700+ for the parts as we don't feel comfortable setting it up after replacing bearings. I did have some metal on the diff plug.

Mine does it at all speeds, even very slow. I ruled out the tires by driving in the grass and still getting the sound. We put it on stands and ran it, didn't make much noise, no load on bearings, etc. Took out the rear drive shaft and drove it. Still had the sound, but not as loud, not as much load. Same sound coasting with engine off, neutral, 4wd, 2wd, center diff locked, etc.

Axle bearings require a shop with the tool or ability to fab a tool to press them off and on.

 

[boostedprozac]

Not sure if this is the sound you guys are hearing. It started at about 190k miles. I’ve replaced both rear wheel bearings, brakes, front axles and brakes, all trans and diff fluids, greased U joints and it’s still there. Only thing left is front bearings. I’m at 230k miles and it’s gotten a bit worse in sound but no bigger issues yet. I’m lost now. Turn the volume up and you’ll hear the sound when I let off the throttle. Now there’s a hum when I get to about 20 mph that gets louder but goes away when I left off the accelerator, then this sound takes over.

https://youtu.be/zmQjQNABFV4


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[Burt]

Pinion bearing? Had same noise on my F250... was pinion bearing.

 

[bsa70]

My guess is it is coming from the diff assembly. Make sure he hires the right person to do the job and oh yeah, get his money ready.

 

[Hunter.Cribb]

I have a 2006 with 150,000 miles. When I am coming to a stop I hear a loud whirr when it down shifts around 30 mph also while cruising between 55-70 mph. If I put it in neutral there is no noise at all. Would this be a pinion bearing?


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[BR06run]

They say the diffs in these 4runners are bulletproof. Not all of them are. Our 2006 V8 2Wd Sport was making bad noise by 90,000 miles . Later it got so bad it sounded like it was going to come out of there. Toyota dealer replaced it and now it's quite as a mouse. Cost of $2603. If you can find a shop that has electronic mikes they can definitely tell where it is coming from.

 

[Inv4drZm]

They say the diffs in these 4runners are bulletproof. Not all of them are. Our 2006 V8 2Wd Sport was making bad noise by 90,000 miles . Later it got so bad it sounded like it was going to come out of there. Toyota dealer replaced it and now it's quite as a mouse. Cost of $2603. If you can find a shop that has electronic mikes they can definitely tell where it is coming from.

Diffs in general are bulletproof, lasting hundreds of thousands of miles without an oil change. Of course, there are exceptions.

A junkyard 3rd member should cost $400, a rebuilt one from East Coast Gear Supply $850.

This is one of those things you can fix for way cheaper if you take your truck anywhere but the dealership. I swapped mine in a couple hours in the driveway with a handful of tools.

 

[BR06run]

Diffs in general are bulletproof, lasting hundreds of thousands of miles without an oil change. Of course, there are exceptions.

A junkyard 3rd member should cost $400, a rebuilt one from East Coast Gear Supply $850.

This is one of those things you can fix for way cheaper if you take your truck anywhere but the dealership. I swapped mine in a couple hours in the driveway with a handful of tools.

It's the first vehicle we ever owned that the diff went bad. I've had rear wheel bearings go bad but never a diff. It only towed about a 1300 pound pop up camper a few times,never been in water,ice or snow,never abused in anyway. It was the last thing about the 4runner that I expected to go bad.

 

[RonJR]

Not to say that anything in particular was your fault, but usually when diffs go bad it's due to contamination of the gear oil, or lack of oil. Both of these situations can happen in subtle ways, and since most of us don't check our diff fluid very often, damage can occur insidiously, and by the time it's discovered, it is too late.

It's generally a good idea to check the gear oil level every 10,000 miles or so, and also pull the drain plug periodically to check for water contamination. (the water will come out first if the vehicle has been sitting a while). Then do a complete drain and fill every 50,000 to 75,000 miles or so.