Itinerant Air-Cooled

So, I have a crazy noise emanating from the right rear wheel area. It is definitely coming from that zone. I adjusted the brakes and they were definitely out of adjustment. The noise actually seemed to go away for a few miles, then it was back. The noise if louder when slowing or driving around 20 mph. It is a smooth grind, a guttural whine that rises and falls as the wheel spins and gets deeper and louder as the vehicle goes slower. I am going back in to adjust/inspect the brakes again. I am thinking wheel bearing, although a knowledgeable friend said it does not sound like a wheel bearing. Any thoughts?

CVs can demonstrate wear by changing sound with load. (On throttle vs. coasting.) Wheel bearings complain aurally through side loads most noticeably, but placing one side at a time on first and safe jack stands will allow you to run the engine in first through third gears at idle to get the wheel spinning enough to clutch, neutral, kill the engine, and listen. Again, safety is what you make it here, so thought counts.

I do both sides one after another to make sure they sound the same. If not, I'll investigate.

Robbie

Check your axle nut torque also.

CV's removed, cleaned, inspected, repacked, and replaced. Noise still there. Then did the brake adjustment. Going to back off on the adjusters just a fuzz to see if that helps. Will visit axle nut torque as well.

Check your axle nut torques first IMOP. If they are good, go down the road till you get around 40mph. Let us the gas, cruise in neutral with the clutch out. If you hear a noise emanating from the rear that slows as your speed decreases, then it's likely a wheel bearing. It's possible the noise could be coming from the transmission as well.

When you had the axle off the rear wheel assy, you could have spun the rear wheel by hand while the other free hand was "feeling" for a rumbling or other noise on the rear bumper or rear suspension component like the trailing arm as the wheel spun. When I use to do alignments, we would lift the front wheels to check that the bearing adjustments were not loose. At the same time, we'd hand spin the front wheel with our spare hand on the steel bumper, or strut spring. If the bearings or races were pitted or rough, you'd feel it and if they were really bad, you'd hear it as well.

jimbear wrote:CV's removed, cleaned, inspected, repacked, and replaced. Noise still there. Then did the brake adjustment. Going to back off on the adjusters just a fuzz to see if that helps. Will visit axle nut torque as well.

Then do a tire rotation front-to-rear.
Colin

Turned out to be a loose axle nut. No more noise.

Thread hijack...how much play should there be on the horizontal of the rear wheel? As in, if I place hand on top of the tire and one hand on the bottom, should I feel a slight click when I push / pull?

Thanks...and sorry for the hijack, but I think i have the same issue...

cegammel wrote:Thread hijack...how much play should there be on the horizontal of the rear wheel? As in, if I place hand on top of the tire and one hand on the bottom, should I feel a slight click when I push / pull?

Thanks...and sorry for the hijack, but I think i have the same issue...

There is no hard-and-fast rule here. You should have no play, but many of us knock out a few hundred thousand additional miles with that play to no ill effect. Your responsibility is to make sure that the bearings are happily greased and the axle nut is secure.
ColinMe?LateToTheThread?

Still clicking...properly greased...I hope.