drive noise

[paulboy]

having just read steadi's thread i think i have a different problem which goes like this;
having just returned from a 300 mile round trip with a load of teenagers in the back of my ssrg i noticed when there is no weight in the back i get a dodgy bearing grinding sort of noise. the symptoms are;
1/ it starts at about 20mph
2/ the noise seems to be cycling about 1/3 of the speed of the wheel rpm
3/ it seems to be there when driving and freewheeling
4/ left/right bends dont seems to effect the noise
5/ its getting louder
I have jacked the surf up and checked the axle bearings which seem to have 1-2mm play but no oil leaks, the noise is definately on the rear end, have greased all the u/j's anyway but they spin faster than the wheel rpm so it cant be them. the oil is ok in the diff also.
does this sound familiar to anyone? I dont want to go changing bearings like 'steadi' did and find ive wasted my money also?
cheers
Paul

[VMC]

Drive Noise

I had a very similar noise to this on a constant FWD Subaru Legacy and it really was a pain and hard to find. The vehicle was jacked up and everything checked but nothing was obvious. It got worse over a couple of months and in the end it was obvious .... a rear wheel bearing was collapsing. I recall the garage did all the bearings on that wheel. Seems that the deterioration has got to be pretty bad before you can physically feel the problem but a very low grumbling noise may be a clue when you spin the wheel. Also only at the end was it clear that the din came from the n/s rather than 'all over'.

Fingers crossed it is simple and cheap like mine!

[laser_jock@work]

having just read steadi's thread i think i have a different problem which goes like this;
having just returned from a 300 mile round trip with a load of teenagers in the back of my ssrg i noticed when there is no weight in the back i get a dodgy bearing grinding sort of noise. the symptoms are;
1/ it starts at about 20mph
2/ the noise seems to be cycling about 1/3 of the speed of the wheel rpm
3/ it seems to be there when driving and freewheeling
4/ left/right bends dont seems to effect the noise
5/ its getting louder
I have jacked the surf up and checked the axle bearings which seem to have 1-2mm play but no oil leaks, the noise is definately on the rear end, have greased all the u/j's anyway but they spin faster than the wheel rpm so it cant be them. the oil is ok in the diff also.
does this sound familiar to anyone? I dont want to go changing bearings like 'steadi' did and find ive wasted my money also?
cheers
Paul

A bearing starting to fail can be hard to diagnose- turning the rear wheel by hand may not be enough to start it rumbling.

Try jacking up the entire rear end. Chock the front wheels securely (you don't want the car going anywhere if it falls off!). Release the hand brake and run the rear wheels in air. Have an assistant ready on the foot brake in case of a problem- then you go to each rear wheel and listen for noises.

Nevillef

[da SLUG man]

it's only a 10 minute job to remove the entire half shaft and hub assy... doing this might give you a better idea.

1. jack up and rmove wheel
2. disconnect brake line and hanbrake cable
3. undo 4 bolts holding "brake drum" to axle
4. pull out half shaft.


... remember to bleed brakes when reassembling!

[paulboy]

[slug
does this mean im gonna get covered in oil?? and if it is the bearings wheres the best place to get them? im in the sticks in devon so a little limited
Paulboy