Front end bearing noise

[rockski]

for my two bob's worth,
if its not up-front in the half axles, or bearing hubs ...

Have a look at Underbody near Front output flange of Transfer Case, near/adjacent to the CV joint.
Noise comes across as a speed-related whine at low speed, both underpower, or coasting; ie its not coming thru from the gearbox. And once your well underway, can't be heard due to road noise

Look for a fine/ultrafine oily film : flung-lube film : could well be very very thin in early days.

then you might think rear CV joint on Front Driveshaft, the CV-861. It doesn't have a great track record

[Windex]

Thanks for all the replies guys, looks like I've got a few things to check, I always thought that CV's clicked when they were gone but makes sense that they'd get a rumble on before that.

[Windex]

Some pics of a few of the potential suspects, seems I've got a few areas that need a good clean up so that they can be monitored better. Not sure that the diff housing ones would be a big leak as I definitely don't get any drips on the floor.

[Windex]

Diff

[Windex]

New wheel bearings in (because I had one and thought I may as well get a second and do both). So now I've got brand new discs, pads and hubs up front. Had a good chance to look close at the boots on the half shafts and they are all intact (no splitting that I could find). One of the bearings was a little bit catchy but definitely not dire, went for a test drive and still definitely got the noise going on so its another suspect it seems.

[ren0vator]

I'd be tempted to start with this one

Originally Posted by Windex

Some pics of a few of the potential suspects,

[Windex]

Well I've spent a bit more time under it (found a few extra items in need of attention too) and had a close look at each of the boots and haven't been able to find any splitting in any of them. I'll remove the front drive shaft on the weekend and see if I can feel any issues with the uni or CV.

What I did notice though is that on the driverside the front half shaft has some play within the diff (this is the long side of the diff) see below pic (not my car)


If I push on this I can get some play with it, on the other side there is no play that I can feel. Any ideas if this is normal as that side would have more leverage on it due to being further from the diff centre but really don't know the IFS dynamics that well.


You can hear it in this video (sorry for the background noise)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/U5ztu6Bp65dxFcAE8

UPDATE
I had a look at a few video's of WH diff disassembles and can see that the front CV on that side fits to a axle shaft that fits into the diff housing and is roughly level with the housing itself so not as concerned as I was initially. The below section of video shows how it fits together in case it helps someone to picture how it fits together.
https://youtu.be/4muQtrGYhBQ?t=20m30s