Hey guys would appreciate some advice. So my truck is making a whining noise from the rear end, after some searching i am assuming it is the pinion bearing. I am about to insure and use it to drive to work every day, how safe is it driving with a bad pinion bearing?

And once i get a few paychecks should I buy a used rear end and replace, or overhaul my current one?

 

I should mention it is about a 15-18 minute drive mostly highway

 

If you go the replace route, you might as well find one with a higher gear ratio. Like 4.10s

 

Bad pinion bearing can and will lead to destruction of entire rear end. Get it fixed before you start driving it. Mine was going bad and I ignored it for a while and one day doing 70 down the highway it let loose.

 

how loud was your whining before it happened?

 

Also, could humming whining be a u joint and not necessarily the bearing? If so, how would i go about diagnosing?

 

Get under the truck and start looking. See if there is any movement in your driveshaft/u-joints/slip yolks/etc...

There really shouldn't be any play.

 

Mine started out as something that most people would never pick up on. I could hear it with windows down and radio off. When it finally went I could hear it all the time unless I had the radio turned the whole way up

 

So i jacked up my truck, rotated the back tires and i could hear slight screeching. not too much play tho. turning them in reverse was alot more difficult. could the rear bearings cause this whine/howl?

 

Are your rear brakes hanging up by any chance?