Rear end whines (pitch varies) and clunk when put in drive
 

Hey guys.

Jeepers is acting up again. Ever since I bought it it's always clunked when put in drive. Didn't think about it. Now while driving, there is a whine, hum coming from the rear end. I started talking with my auto teacher, and he said it could be anything from a bad u-joint to the entire read end needing to be replaced. I'm gonna start with the u joints and hope they're bad. If not, time to open the diff. How can I tell if bearing are going bad? And how hard are they to replace?

to check if your rear d-shaft ujoint is bad... (preferably with another person) get the jeep on level ground (I.E. parking lot, NON busy street, level area of driveway) put the jeep in neutral and have your buddy hold the break just in case:thumbup: then crawl underneath and try to turn your driveshaft.... if it wiggles at all then there's your sign for a bad ujoint.... as for the axle being bad, depending what the PO could have done the rear end could have been welded, or your carrier bearings could be going bad... now some people only use gasket sealer... i use the OEM Felpro gaskets from the local parts store (like $5) just unbolt your diff cover and check for shavings.... no shavings Awesome just did a diff fluid swap, if there are shavings/ metal flakes then your bearings are going out

I tried to rotate the drive shaft while in neutral, and it does. But the ujoint doesn't seem to be moving. It looks like its from inside the diff because I can hear something moving in the diff when I wiggle the shaft.

when was the last time you checked the gear oil in it ?

The last *only* time I checked it was when I first bought it roughly a year ago and had the oil change place pull a sample. The guy said it looked almost new. Haven't checked it since although I was planning to change the fluids soon since I have the money anyway.

pull the plug and stick you punkie in and down in the hole see if you get gear oil on your finger

and im looking for what, discolored oil/metal shaving?

this will just tell you if theres oil in there it shoub be on the tip of you finger

Ok. Another thought it only really clunks when I slam it into drive hard.

Anyway, how would I check if the wheel bearing is gojng bad, because the sound seems to be coming more from the driver side?