need help w/ driveline noise

[03silverwrx]

ok so i'm in desperate need of some direction. my bone stock 03 rex started making a noise a while back , while my wife was on a trip @ 250 miles away from home. after @ 10 minutes of driving (normal opp. temp) theres a distinct whine only when at speeds over 30 mph.(sounds like a power steering whine but definately not). the whine is constant clutch in or out and no matter what gear your in. sounds like its coming from the trans. so my basic question is this. what is the best way to diagnose a drive line noise in any of my other cars i would put them on a lift and have somone hold @ about 30mph (not lifted vary high and most likely secured so as not to come off) but i've found out that on my subbie doing this i could kiss my center diff. goodbye. im trying too find if it could be my rear diff. i had a truck once that was making a similar noise and it ended up being the rear diff. the mech. told me that the noise was traveling up the drive shaft and making it sound like the trans. im really ready to get it back on the road and hope not to spend a small fortune. about the car bone stock 114k babied the 25k or so weve put on it. help plz
posted in trans. & awd only 1 reply

[teflon_jones]

The problem is that it's nearly impossible to say where this noise might be coming from based on your post. It could be the tranny, rear diff, center diff, or even coming from the clutch area.

Even if you identify which of those places it's coming from, they'll have to be taken apart to find out what's wrong. So either you stick it up on a lift, identify where the sound is coming from, and tear that part apart, or you wait for it to fail and you'll know where it's coming from.

[03silverwrx]

i kinda dont want to rework my center diff. b/c of putting it on the lift and running it. and i'm not really asking any one to diag. a sound over a post. what i would like however is some general tips on narrowing down my options.