Alright, I have a 98 Tacoma, 4X4, 3.4L manual hubs/trans/tcase. Recently It has decided to give me problems. First the clutch, then a ball joint went out and now some crazy grinding noise. Its got 165k on it. After the ball joint broke, I had the entire steering system rebuilt, new rack/axles/tie rod ends, ball joints, Warn hubs and all. The only front end components that are not brand new are the wheel bearings and the brakes. Now, for the grinding sound, It started after all of the front end work except the hubs, it started before I put the Warn hubs in. It makes an intermittent grinding sound from the front end usually at higher speeds and it comes and goes. sometimes its worse than others. I thought it was because the front diff was loose because the shop that did the steering work left it loose. It is tightened now and still makes the noise. I locked the hubs into 4X4 while keeping the tcase in 2hi. After driving it around that has seemed to make it stop. I havent driven super far like that but it hasnt made the noise since i did that. Any ideas? I took it apart and looked to make sure it was all assembled correctly. It was. The axles seem to be in properly. The front driveshaft has no ujoint play. Possibly wheel bearings? Im planning on replacing them either way in the next week. Im rebuilding the rear axle except the actual differential and the rear driveshaft as well. Im stuck as to what the front end noise could be though.

 

I doubt your bearings are shot at 165k. I replaced my original front bearings at 300,000 miles because I thought they were the source of a driveline rumble.

They were perfectly fine. Smooth and solid. Only after going through the nightmare of replacing those did I realize my RR wheel bearing was shot...

Maybe you have a chipped tooth on your ring gear or pinion?



Andreas

 

If they rebuilt your steering system, it's possible that they could have gotten contamination in the bearings and that destroyed them.