Rearend Whine

[truebrite]

New to the forum although, this would be my 4th Astro/Safari over the years. I'm looking at buying a 2000 astro passenger with 151K on it. There is reasonable whine from the rearend. The sound is more pronounced as you take a corner, I noticed it at 35 mph or so. And, it only whines under load, completely quiet when you let off the gas. I crawled under it and saw no seepage/leaks at all on the differential. Am I correct in assuming that this is a wheel bearing as opposed to the differential itself? If I need a remanufactured rearend, what are the solid internet sources? Or, does is anyone familiar with a reputable shop in the Kansas City metro that could do the work? Would a good transmission shop be qualified? I want this thing to be safe and reliable for roadtrips and I need to figgure out how and what to negotiate if I decide to buy. Thanks in advance for your help

[Jasen]

In my experience wheel bearing generally squeak or chirp. A whine to me say's somethings wearing out in the rear end. You could pop the cover and take a look or take it in and have a rear end service by a real shop, not snottylube, done and ask them to inspect everything, probably cost you around $40. I picked up ring and pinion set for the Wrangle a few years ago at http://www.ringpinion.com for a good price.

[RECox286]

Do a rear brake check. While you are in there, look for evidence of a bad bearing, and/or seal. That would be up and down movement of the axle, and/or a black liquidy gooey mess

in the brake area (seal leak) Check the outside of the pumpkin for signs of leakage (black dirty mess) and also check for proper lubrication level. A steady whine when loaded, sounds like an alxe bearing to me.

The fix is easy, if you don''t mind getting dirty, and requires a few simple tools, plus a bearing puller (a slide hammer usually will work with the proper attachment, which can all be had at Harbor Freight,

rented at a tool rental, or, believe it or not, some LAPS will lend out such equipment.

I opt to own the tools I know I need, because I sometimes don't have the luxury of down time. My trucks have to be on the road. I doubt if your schedule is life or death, front burner, gotta have it

yesterday. You will also want to do both sides while you have it apart. If you don't have any technical literature, I'd be thinking about getting a small manual like Chiltons, or Haynes, or look on the

Ebay site for a Factory Service Manual. Good deals on Ebay. When you get the axles out you can do an eyeball to see if you can reuse them with a new set of bearings and seals, or if you need to get

bearings which are offset, or if you will need new axles. Depends mostly if the gear oil was kept up to level.

Good Hunting...

Bob

[throrope]

I recently (2 yrs ago?) had a rear end whine due to the three bearings in the differential. The local parts shop had a bearing kit for $150, but since I didn't have good experience with transmissions and similar gears, I had our Chevy dealer clean it up at an almost irresponsible cost. I have a seal going for the second time on the front differential (AWD). I called the local old time machine shop that told me they could clean it up for about $300 if I brought it in. That's now on the to do list along with the front half axles waiting in the garage.

Good luck and keep us posted.