drive shaft noise?

[foghorn2]

hello guys
I'm looking for a definitive answer if possible. noise getting worse rumble/ road  type noise. Done a fair bit of reading seems to point to drive shafts. There was no change in the noise under load or  freewheeling. So to narrow down further I put her up on blocks and looked for anything obvious rotated wheels etc which i didn't find, engaged the gears with engine running noise was there in all gears tried except reverse. So this eliminated suspension and tyre defects I assume.Wheel bearings were done in august and there was no change when loading either side.
so my questions are would splines on shafts wear more in forward drive and leave the reverse squarish, have my diagnostic been correct following the path I've taken  and would it be best to replace all the shafts if this is the case, bearing in mind she's on 126k
I'd appreciate anybody who could shed any more light on this
thanks for any help and assistance that you can give

[Mirez]

Hi and welcome along, yes sounds very much the route I would have taken for diagnosis.

To help clear up something for other members though, driveshafts rarely fail, the CV joints attached to either end are the vits that fail and whilst they could be replaced individually, most people prefer to change the shaft as a built assembly.

Splines do wear in one direction, or rather one side, leaving a square edge on the other - purely down to torque. Rarely do the splines on the halfshaft make any noises other then a light clonk on take up. The CV joints on the other hand also wear directionally and the inner joint can make noise but you normally notice a knocking sensation when they are going bad.

[foghorn2]

thanks mirez I'll get them ordered and report the outcome. I know what type of noise? is a bit down to interpretation so it could be described as a more of a knocking as I can feel it through the floor pan. In fact its probably  progressed to it. Its the usual the wife drives it all the time, I get in it now and again and say whats that noise and she says what noise?
thanks again ::

[foghorn2]

1 question I forgot, do you have to split the hubs etc as these are flange type shafts, or have you  got the play and room to get them in and out the hub?

[Mirez]

Ahh one of THOSE noises

You can do it without splitting but its fiddly (drivers side less so) - tbh the lower balljoint will probably need replacing at the same time so splitting there and replacing is the easy option. No need to undo track rod, you only need to gain about 3cm of space for easy in/out.

Please take photos if pos and we can write a how to then