Fatdog2

I just remembered I had a constant growling noise when I had a nissan years ago.Went to two different repair places and they both agreed it had to be the tires.Even though they looked almost new,they had separated inside the tires.Replaced the tires and the noise went away.Falcon tires back then were crap but my daughter has had falcons on her lexus is 250 for over a year now and she loves them.Hope this helps.

hix5000

I'm going to kill two birds with one stone and replace the rear bearings while I have the rear end opened up since the sound I'm hearing could possibly be coming from there as well. I believe I need to pull the axle shaft out to get to the bearings but I have never done the job before. Anyone have some pro tips to make the job easier?

hix5000

I'm having trouble turning the differential gears. I opened up the differential and the bolt holding the pin was right in front so I loosened the bolt holding the pin and I have been trying to rotate the gears so I can get the pin out and then the axle clips but the gears will not rotate. All it does is wiggle slightly. How hard is it supposed to be to move the gears? The transmission is in neutral.

hix5000

Turns out if wouldn't move because the driveshaft was touching my exhaust. I jacked up the rear end a few inches and the differential was turning by hand.

Fatdog2

Was this the culprit?

FirstYrLS1Z

^^^ agree with question,was the sound when turning caused by the driveshaft touching the exhaust ? Since turning causes a body roll(which the exhaust is mounted to).

hix5000

It was not the drive shaft touching the exhaust but that would have been funny. The sound is completely gone now. I changed the differential fluid to synthetic (Mobil 1) and used the stealership limited slip additive (Delco). I also changed out both rear wheel bearings and seals so it was either the bearings or the fluid that solved the issue.

Thanks for the help!