strange sound from rear of car???

[Ashman]

hi all, I've had this noise coming from the rear of my car for a little while, and I have reason to believe its in the differential because The sound is very similar to the sound my jeep made when the differential had a bent housing, its like a weird rotation noise, kind of like something is scraping when rotaing around.

My rear tires are new and have been balanced and checked out by my tire shop and have no problems, are not out of round, and the wheels are not bent. The reason I am pretty sure it isn't the tires is that it will make the noise if going 2 mph, and that would not be fast enough for the tires to be the cause of the noise. and since it has been checked by my tire guy, it doesn't seem likely that the tires are the culprit.

A german friend of mine, when he visited a little while ago, said he had a similar noise and it was the tires, but in my case the tires checked out ok.

The sound is like a Wuh-wuh-wuh noise.

I plan on getting it fixed at my mechanic, I was hoping someone would be able to give me a little heads up as to what it could be.

Is it one of the Rear drive axles, or could it be a missing tooth on a differential gear? Maybe its a bad bearing? Maybe a rear suspension component? Could it be a flex disc? My car's shifting has gotten a bit harsher lately, but the harsh shifting is intermittent. it shifts smooth sometimes, and harsh sometimes.

Could trans mounts or motor mounts cause this?

Could it be worn bushings in the rear suspension?

Rear links, or maybe the differential fluid is worn out or something.

I really can't describe the sound better than a wuh wuh wuh noise.

What could this be, and what could it potentially cost to fix if it is something like the differential...

When I take my car to my mechanic, I plan on having him do other work as well, like change all the fluids, and lube everything nicely, and replace any worn rubber on the car.

If it is the differential, do you guys recommend changing it out for a different gear ratio to make the car quicker off the line? I never plan on driving faster than 100 mph ever, so I wouldn't mind losing some top end speed.

Of course I really hope it is something simple and not too expensive to fix.

I just know the sound is annoying, so I now drive with the stereo a little louder than before so I don't have to hear it as much... hehe

ohh and the sound is there at any speed, and gets quicker as I go faster. I have no noticable vibration coming form the car at speed, but I do have slight vibration.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Alon