a scratching sound from the driveshaft area?

[ChandaraC]

recently ive been getting a slight clunking sound when i shift from P to R or D. The sound is coming from the rear driveshaft area. And now when i acclerate i get like a metal scratching sound from the same area. I crawled under the car and had a friend shift from P to R and D a couple of times and its around the rear driveshaft. I didn't see any play at the u-joints. I also had the car in N and shook and twisted the driveshaft. There didnt seem to be any play in the u-joints but did seem to have some noise from the inside of the driveshaft when i shake it. Don't know if thats normal or not, would i be needing a new driveshaft. Is that how i really check the u=joints for play or would i need to take the driveshaft off. also, my car is pretty much stock, no lift of any sort. thanks for any help and/or advice.

-Brian

 

[tomatopants]

If you only hear the scratching when you're driving, it's your brakes. I thought the scratching noise was either bearings or something to do with the drive shafts, but it turns out my brakes were dangerously low.

 

[ChandaraC]

well i took a day off work and got under the car, took the rear drivesahaft off to inspect it further and low and behold the u-joint is bad. the u-joint dont even flex, its binding when i accelerate so it makes the sound. it was nice and firm when on the car so i couldn't tell till i took the driveshaft off. i took the chance to change the fluids in the front and rear dif and transfer case since i was down there and had the day off. the front was thick and goopy so looks like i'll be replacing the axle seals soon. i also checked the rear brakes and they are about done, so i'm ordering them tommorrow and replacing them along with the u-joints this weekend. and next on the list will be cleaning the birfs and new seals after i finish reading the faq and posts on them since it'll be my first time