Before I get into this I want to say that I searched, but didn't get as direct of an answer as I really needed through previous posts. With that having been said, I thought I had a bad wheel bearing, but turns out I was wrong. I own a 95 SC400 with around 208k on the clock. When I reach up to around 45 mph I start to hear an odd sound coming from what I believe is the drive shaft. When I take my foot off the gas I hear what sounds like a rubbing noise. The faster I'm going then worse it sounds. A friend of mine told me what he experienced the same thing in his 300zx and it was the carrier bearing inside the driveshaft. Let's say that this is the problem. I don't know much about driveshafts and my mechanical knowledge concerning these cars is limited at best. I was told that if I jack up the car, I should be able to feel some play in the drive shaft. Is this the true? I was also told that the u-joints could be bad as well. Would the noise I hear be a symptom of bad u-joints? And as far as the carrier bearing goes, is that a lexus dealer specific item or can I find it online? Is there a website that's legit to where I can buy one? Also, what's the technical name for it? I have some money, but no where near enough to cover having to buy a new drive shaft? Does anyone have any suggestions for a resolution? Thanks in advance.

 

if it's the drive shaft being off balance you can take it to a drive line place around your area. If it's the carrier well I am not sure how much they go for. I think I have a similar issue on my BMW. I recently replaced the front wheel hubs but the noise only got worse after time.

 

The Flex coupling connects the driveshaft (called the propeller shaft) to the tranny. If it deteriorates you will see cracks in it and experience vibration. I don't recall hearing any noise when mine was bad. GL.

 

Thanks guys. I got recommended to a really good drive shaft shop in the area. They rebuild 'em and make custom ones as well. They told me that they can only check it if it's off the car. So I'm aiming to take the drive shaft off early next week and getting it fixed. For the sake of future information needs of other CL members that might encounter this problem I'll let everyone know what exactly the problem was and what they did to get it taken care of, as well as how my car runs afterwards.