artdowg

Hey guys,

I've been a member for a while and I do a lot of research, but I can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for.

Car:
06 LS 5spd coupe.

A couple of weeks ago I hit a pothole running the width of a car (technically it was an overpass construction not fully finished). Well, I thought that I probably bent my rims. I put her up on the lift and checked everything, all was fine. My tire pressures were a bit low, so I just topped them off/leveled them off. Since I did that, I took it on the highway and at around 55mph, I started to hear a slight whining noise. My 1st thought was maybe my tires were a bit choppy, and are making noise now that they are at the correct inflation pressure. Within the next few days, the noise started to appear at lower and lower speeds. First 50mph, then 40, now at 25mph. It gets louder and louder according to speed. So I checked the tires for wear, they are normal. So now my 2nd thought, wheelbearing. I do the normal procedure to see if it gets louder as I go left/right. Still the same. I put her on the lift again. Check all of the bearings, everything spins as it should, everything else is tight. By now I'm frustrated. I turn on the car, put her in gear and have her doing 30mph on the lift. I check and the noise is really coming from the passenger side diff/axle connection. I am kind of pissed off, since my car has 35,870 miles, but it is 2 months past due on warranty. I have less than a year left on the lease and I do not want to replace the tranny out of my pocket if I'm giving up the car soon.

My question:
Is there a bearing in the tranny/diff at the opening where the axle slides in?
Could I have messed that up?
Or is it the whole tranny that I have to replace now?

Thanks in advance for any help.