Whoops... forgot to post the answer on this. Seems as if everyone that wanted to give it a go has done so already so I suppose I'll post.

It's indeed the axle. No doubt about it, the 'squeaking' 'grinding' sort of noise you hear when I'm turning is just some awesome orange clay junk I picked up on my last trip I took. It wouldn't even come off of the paint or anything, I had to hand wash every part of the vehicle to get it off.