My Dana 60 rear is rumbling pretty good when I brake with the engine. No noise on acceleration and nothing obvious on cornering. I am guessing a carrier side bearing is pitted. Pinion bearings tend to whine rather than rumble in my experience. I found out the pinion threads are galled when I replaced the pinion seal a couple years ago so if the pinion bearing is bad, I will need a new ring and pinion.

I am wondering if I should press off the axle bearings for inspection. They feel pretty smooth but I can't see enough of the rollers to see if they are bad. I would hate to damage good axle bearings. Press them off or go straight to the carrier?

Can you test it on jack stands with a stethoscope? If so try that

Probably not the axles bearings. They sound worse on cornering. Pull the cover and check for metal in the oil with a magnet. That will tell you about the inside. Get ready to spend some money on rebuilding a Dana. Take it to someone who’s good. I just rebuilt one. They are time consuming.

It could be the front pinion bearing. I think the pinion gear loads against the rear bearing on acceleration, and the front bearing on deceleration, because of the hypoid gear teeth.

& make sure the pinion nut didn't come loose