the sound is coming from the drivers side front tire at high speeds of 80km or higher, i thought it was the bearing... wasn't.... jacked her up turned the wheel and there was a clunking noise in what felt like the CV joint where it connects to the front diff... changed entire cv shaft... did not solve the problem the noise seems to be coming from inside the diff... fluid was a little low... I leveled it off and noise still persists DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS COULD BE? I CANNOT STAND THIS NOISE ANYMORE!!!!!

thank you ever so kindly

Well theres some good news and bad news for ya..

First off, the good news is I have done this repair myself and had the same problem - I even replaced the wheel bearing & cv halfshaft too trying to solve the noise.

Turns out it was the bearing in the differential. It was shot and allowing the cv halfshaft to flop around, hitting the casing, thus making noise.

The bad news is my problem was on the pass. side. The driver side is a whole different story. I know this because I had to replace the seal on the drivers side differential and it was a royal PITA, not to mention the bearing didnt look to be serviceable without taking it apart, and to replace the seal I didnt have to take it apart.

I would seek the advice of a field service manual to see whats involved. But its not something I would tackle and I have done everything from transmission R&R's and complete engine teardowns.

thank you very much for your help... i had a feeling it was a bearing in the diff... do you know how much it ended up costing you to replace it? what is the worse thing that will happen if it is not changed promptly? thank you ever so much

Well, my bearing on my drivers side never went bad - the seal did.

However, the bearing went bad on the passenger side - which is detached from the axle and is quite different (sealed with grease vs. axle oil like the drivers side) so it was a totally different beast. I also had to replace the whole side housing as when the halfshaft flopped around, it chewed up the bearing race and seal race. The total job, DIY, cost me about $500 (housing, bearing, seal, grease, and I replaced the halfshaft for the heck of it).

Take that price like a grain of salt because the driver side is built into the front differential and is much much more involved to replace the bearing. I replaced the seal only on the driver side and it was a PITA. The bearing doesnt appear to be easily serviceable at all. It looks like a disassembly would be necessary (and likely very costly!).