I have had a rubbing, thumping, or grinding noise in my 98 Max for about 6 months. It's frequency matches wheel rotation speed. Best speed to hear it is between 40 and 60 mph. It sounds like the same problem the guy previously posted about the thumping noise. Dealer diagnosed it to be a bad carrier bearing on the right hand drive shaft, inboard of the inner CV joint. They want $360 for a complete new half shaft from the transmission out, plus 2 hours labor at $80 / hour. they say the bearing cannot be replaced separately.

I discussed this with a drive shaft repair company in town. After all, it is simply a bearing which needs to be pressed or torched off and a new one pressed on. They are looking into getting the proper bearing so we can procede. Maybe $40 for the bearing and 2.5 hours labor at $50 per hour. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

the whole axle should be like $150 at most. and $80/hour for labor... it's not brain surgery ... who are these people?

 

Why the dealership, of course. (They just went bankrupt recently, and I believe they are attempting to generate cash by ripping off Nissan owners who are not recent customers.) I agree, this ain't rocket science, but they were totally unhelpful about the bearing. That's why I went elsewhere.

 

when you say right side axle which one are you refering to? Passenger side or driver side. Also were you able to feel this in your floor board? Was the noise all the time or did it just happen once a wheel revolution? Basically you are saying you have a bad axle, correct?

 

Axles like to make a clicking noises while turning. The way you decribed the noise, it's probably a wheel bearing.

 

The dealer said: "bad carrier bearing on the right hand drive shaft, inboard of the inner CV joint."
The carrier bearings that holds the inner side of the cv axles are the differential carrier bearings inside the transmission. If these are bad you need a transmission rebuild, I think! The bearings in the 5-speed are known to fail.

Also for my last post about the wheel bearing:
If your wheel bearing is bad the noise level will change if you turn the steering wheel side to side while cruising. For example, if you turn to the right and the noise gets louder, it's your left wheel bearing (the car is shifting it's weight to that side). You would notice this on an on-ramp.

 

"They want $360 for a complete new half shaft from the transmission out, plus 2 hours labor at $80 / hour. they say the bearing cannot be replaced separately".

Well if you conveyed their diagnosis accurately, it's stupid or a lie. If it's true the dealer diagnosed the diff carrier bearing, and suggested replacing the axle, it's wrong. The carrier bearing is part of the tranny, not the axle. Replacing the axle is a waste, unless they also believe the axle is damaged (which usually does not happen when a carrier bearing goes bad). As well, the bearing can be replaced by removing the transmission and separating the transmission halves. It's several hours of labor, but far from impossible or difficult. These bearings are p/n 31408-80x05 (both sides of standard diff, and pass side of VLSD diffs), and p/n 38440-01x00 (driver side of VLSD diff).

Dave

 

Sorry, was away for a few days. Work in Pittsburgh and home on weekends. This problem is on my wife's 98. I drive a 97 Max.
To clear a couple misconceptions, it is not a wheel bearing, and it is not a CV Joint. I do feel it in the floorboards. It does not click (had CV's fail in the past and this is not a CV noise). The shaft is the passenger side shaft, which is longer than the driver side shaft. I understand what you are saying about turning left / right and determining yada yada, that's not it. No difference in noise either way. As far as accurate portrayal of the dealer diagnosis, I have no reason to make up any stories, so thanks for the P/N's for the manual transmission differential bearings but that doesn't help this time as I have an automatic, not manual transmission and I saw the parts drawings which show where this support bearing is located. Unfortunately, there was no p/n to see on the drawing.

Actually, Autozone repair drawings and photos show the bearing plainly as part of the shaft just inboard of the inner CV. It is accessed by removing a couple what look like small socket head cap screws, and pulling a plate off the outer side of this bearing. The shaft is then removed from the differential spline. The bearing comes out on the shaft.
If anyone knows the bearing dimensions (OD, ID, width, or bearing number) I need those to get a replacement before I put it in the shop for replacement. I appreciate anyone's help, this is a bad time of year to have to spend too much money for the convenience of letting the dealer just rip me off.