Symptoms of rear end going bad?

So I've had a squeaking sound coming from the rear end for a couple days now, changes frequency with wheel speed, it just sounds like something in a brake or a sticking brake to me so I wasn't concerned about it. I rotated my tires today and while I had it in the air I spun it over by hand trying to replicate the noise
I couldn't get it to make the noise but heard another worse noise.

Basically as I'm spinning it over by hand I'm hearing wayyyy more noise from the rear end then I should be, like you can hear all the teeth as they mesh but in a clunking sort of way. I took a video of it but don't have a way to upload it.
Seems strange to me for a rear end to go bad at 180k, I don't baby it but I wouldn't say I abuse it either, its a 4.10 e locker diff, changed the fluid about a year ago

 

Squeaking? are you sure it's not a wheel bearing? u joint?


FWIW there is some audible play in my rear diff with 230K miles on it but it's running fine

 

There is no play in either wheel to suggest a bearing, and it doesn't change in corners. Could be a U joint but they felt good. The squeaking isn't my main concern though, it's just clunking of the rear end as I hand spin it

 

I have a vid but don't know how to upload it haha... technology wise I'm roughly 115 years old

 

Upload it to youtube, then click the movie/film icon in the post editor and paste the youtube url there

 

I'll have to make a YouTube acct, I'll upload it when I get a chance. At firestone right now seeing what they have to say haha

 

I don't but I'll make one

 

Hahahah I know how you feel about firestone, my local one isn't bad tho and it's free

 

Wanna PM me your email? It won't let me upload the link into a PM

 

My driveline, with ~130k miles has some play in it too. I'm now worried about that.

For the squeak, you could remove your rear driveshaft, then drive around in "front wheel drive". If the noise goes away, then it's a U-joint. If it's still there, could be an axle bearing.

 

I had it in the air, you don't hear anything driving which seems really weird to me. The vid I got is just spinning it by hand when it's in the air

 

Good point, I greased the zerk while I was under there but it didn't make a difference. My next plan was change the fluid and look for metal, then I could pull the driveline if that doesn't tell me anything

 

Of course, it won't let me attach the vid because it's over the 5mb limit.
No the carrier bearing looks good and the sound is for sure from the axle/rear end

 

I thought all the u joints looked good and they agreed with me, said wheel bearings are fine too and brakes look good. He recommended a local drive train shop to me

 

Update, drove home from firestone, squeak is gone, so it must have just been something in my drum that came out when they looked at them

 

Yeah but that still means my rear end is probably cheesed. Draining it tomorrow

 

So just jacked it up again with it cold, had my buddy (who is way smarter then me) listen to it, each of us spun a tire the same direction and noise goes away, so he said it's gonna be bad spider gears, makes noise when you spin one, or when you spin opposite directions, but tires going the same direction and it's quiet

 

Drained it today, metal chunks on the magnet on the drain plug, so spider gears are fucked. But it makes no noise or vibration driving, so they can't be that bad yet. I have no idea what I did, I'm not even that hard on it at all. I wheel it IMO lightly, dont to burnouts, never even spin a tire unless it's wet out. So who knows.

I guess I'm just badass enough to blow a Tacoma rear end on 33's

 

@Sperrunner you still have that 4.10 e locker 3rd?