I recently discovered a high pitched whine sound coming from the drive shaft since the sound isn't changed by braking or depressing the clutch. I started noticing the sound when I would drive through traffic and I could hear the sound echoing off the other vehicles as I passed. The noise is very high pitched and annoying. I was wondering if anyone has any idea of what this could be coming from. I was initially thinking it was either the center support bearing or a dust shield along the drive shaft. I also noticed there is alot of play in the center support bearing and I'm not sure if this is normal. If anyone has any input it would be great to hear.

 

It's either the center support bearing or the rear output bearing in the tranny.
What trans and how many miles? Gear oil topped off? The only dust shield I can think of is the one on the center support bearing. And no, alot of play is not normal. Good news is that if your mechanically inclined and have the space/ tools it's not to rough.

 

Manual tranny with 194k and the gear oil is all topped off and looks pretty fresh. The dust shields I was thinking were the ones where the drive shaft meets the rear differential and the transfer case.

 

It could be anything drive line related.

Transmission, drive line or differential. There is play in the center support bearing?

The new ones we install have NO play in them, except for the self centering movement.

 

When I get under my truck I can push the drive shaft about half an inch from where it sits at the center support bearing and I'm thinking this might be the root of the noise.

 

How do you know it's not the brakes or thereabouts?

 

the noise is unaltered by pressing the brakes or when the clutch is depressed and when I had a friend hang out the door we discovered the noise is coming from somewhere behind the transfer case.

 

Does the driveshaft make the sound if the truck is parked and you just grab the shaft and try to turn it by hand? I had a bad ujoint that resonated through the driveshaft. Never had that before but it was said to be common. I either had them destroy themselves or i just changed them preventively. That was alot better than a bad tranny output or 3rd member.

 

Put it on jack stands and run it. You might be able to tell better being right next to it. And be SUPER careful.

 

I tried that a couple days ago and the sound disappeared so it must be something with the drive shaft compressed so thats why I was leaning toward center support bearing.

 

My pickup makes a high pitched noise when slowing down and no throttle. does your noise whine all the time?

 

Yeah its pretty much all the time and it the pitch doesn't change much if I speed up or slow down. It is just a constant high pitched noise.

 

yup its the csb, im a smog tech, so i just put my rig in 1st and let it spin on the dyno. daringly i popped my head underneath and thats where the noise was coming from. driveshaft parts.com or something like that has em for like 50 bucks. its a common problem for 2 piece driveshafts.