Hello,
I have a noise which appears to be coming from my rear differential on my 1995 toyota 4runner 3VZ 6 cylinder.
I cannot hear it at high speeds but when i'm slowly cruising through a parking lot or back road between 5 or 10 mph it sounds like a rubbing noise coming from the rear as the tires spin. I checked underneath but see no obvious issues and no leaks.

Thank you for any replies

 

BTW i did grease all the joints / yokes & spiders

 

Could be a bad outer pinion bearing....or loose pinion nut. Leaking any gear oil from the flange?

 

Sorry after further trouble shooting i had someone in the passenger seat with their head out the window listening to the noise that i thought was coming from the rear end. Turns out the noise is coming from the passenger side wheel brake assembly in which i just had all new rotors / calipers / and ceramic pads put on both sides. While i got you though any idea what the thumping noise could be after all those parts were recently replaced 10 days ago from a reputable garage? Would like to go in there when i take it back & maybe help them diagnose the issue...warped rotor perhaps (new) loose pads? caliper not operating properly? Wheel bearings? I don't know much about disc brakes...anymore info would be helpful...

Thank you

 

could be anything.....just jack the tire off the ground and spin it by hand and observe. That's the only way.

 

I jacked it up and spun the wheel by hand and can hear it faintly but i'm guessing it's faint because of all the weight taken off. Thanks for the tip