I just noticed yesterday that there was some gear whine coming from my stock 3.23 10 bolt rear end. It gets worse the faster you drive the car. Right now it isn't too annoying, and with my money situation, I think I'm going to live with it for a while. I've had to replace the pinion seal on the rear end, and the u-joint is needing to be replaced now too(I'm going to get that one fixed). So what could be causing the gear whine, and am I asking for trouble by letting it go for a while?

 

Well, gear whine itself means the ring & pinion are not touching each other correctly. Usually this only happens after gears swaps that are done improperly or with a 4.10 or higher ratio there is usually some gear whine as well. It may not be gear whine at all, but a bearing that could be going out- wheel bearings or ones inside the differential, who knows, really. Are there any other symptoms? Louder while turning, accel, decel, etc...?

 

I'm pretty sure its my u-joint making my other noise. When I let off the gas at less than 35MPH, the rear end makes a clunking sound, and it becomes worse if I'm going around a turn. Esepcially a wide turn, the noise is worse. Its not quite as bad around a tight turn. My other noise is a squeaking when I go over bumps. I am dead sure its my shock or shock bushing because my old car made the same noise and it was the strut on it.