Noise from the wheel bearing or diff ?

[Jean]

Hello! I've replaced rear trailing arms and rear differential on saturday and now I hear a noise coming from the back of the car that increases in pitch with speed. I was told the diff is good, so I am leaning more towards bad trailing arm wheel bearing . The noise isn't loud, but is easy to sport at about 35mph to 60mph . If I remove the back seat cover it's even louder.

Is there a way to narrow it down to make sure the noise is coming from the trailing arm and not the diff ? If it's the trailing arm, what's the easiest way to deal with it, get the bearing AND the hub/flange or does it not make it any easier labor wise if I just get the bearing only ?

:hitler:

[crazynoll]

Hello! I've replaced rear trailing arms and rear differential on saturday and now I hear a noise coming from the back of the car that increases in pitch with speed. I was told the diff is good, so I am leaning more towards bad trailing arm wheel bearing . The noise isn't loud, but is easy to sport at about 35mph to 60mph . If I remove the back seat cover it's even louder.

Is there a way to narrow it down to make sure the noise is coming from the trailing arm and not the diff ? If it's the trailing arm, what's the easiest way to deal with it, get the bearing AND the hub/flange or does it not make it any easier labor wise if I just get the bearing only ?

if it is a winey noise my car was just doing that i just changed the hole diff. but its ur out put bearing in the diff thats going bad , i looked it up before i did my diff swap(from open to lsd). the diff well still work fine but it just sounds annoying i read that u can go for 50,000 miles with that noise untill u really have to worrie about it.

:hitler:

[Jean]

"if it is a winey noise my car was just doing that i just changed the hole diff. but its ur out put bearing in the diff thats going bad , i looked it up before i did my diff swap(from open to lsd). the diff well still work fine but it just sounds annoying i read that u can go for 50,000 miles with that noise untill u really have to worrie about it."

The noise is hard to describe, does the wheel bearing noise differ from a diff. output bearing noise or is it pretty much the same noise ??

[crazynoll]

does the noise get louder at high speeds or high rpms, and when u release the gas does it still have a noise. and is ur car open diff.

[Jean]

I think it does get louder but it's hard to say for because road noise and wind noise is also a factor here. I will check today or tomorrow if the noise is present when there is throttle input. Are you thinking the noise is present if there is load and if there is no load on the diff and it spins on it's own (via moving car/wheels) then it could be wheel bearings ?

[xLibelle]

because you cant be certain, it sounds more like its the diff than a bearing.
that is, if its a limited slip.
the LSD will whine and the bearing could do a couple of things like hum, but not normally whine.

with a bearing, i think you can change the weight on it (like take a turn) and produce a different sound at the same given speed.

[Jean]

Hmmm, it better not be the diff. Guy I bought it from assured me it made no noises on his car .. I almost want to install my diff back and see if the noise is still there. Probably the only way to narrow it down to the trailing arm(s) or the diff.... sucks.

[JasonC]

Does it go away when you turn? When mine went bad it would get quiet when i turned. If not then the ring gear propobly has some wear and is singing to you.

[xLibelle]

is the back seat in place? that thing eliminates a LOT of noise.
if you havent heard much about LSD's and the "noise", do some quick searches here

[Jean]

So in a nutshell should the noise go away when the car is turning ? Doesn't lsd work harder while cornering so if anything noise would be present or louder then ?

Yes, back seat is in place and I tried moving it up while driving with my right hand and noise is louder then. I've never had a bad wheel bearing or a bad diff so I am not sure what to expect unfortunately :(

I have the car on jack stands right now as I am doing a heater core bypass, i should have it filled with coolant tomorrow . I've read that it's not a good idea to run the car with the rear wheels off the ground (extreme angle for the joints) , is that true or can I go ahead and do it that to see if I can then pin point where it's coming from ?

[silversleeper]

mine does that too, but its a faint whirring sound. it doesnt get louder, but rather raises in pitch. my solution, turn up the stereo.

[stevofthahill]

I had one of my rear wheel bearings lock up on me on the freeway, not a fun experience for sure. But before things went south, it made a very prominent whirring/whiney noise that you wouldn't notice "that" much at lower speeds but was very obvious at higher speeds i.e. 50+.

[vr4boy]

i had some noise kinda like what you've described in the past.in my case,it was attributed to the wheel bearings but,the way i found out is to jack up the whole rear end(both wheels off the ground) and support it w/ jackstands-i jacked it up by solid part of the diff so car was supported at 3 points.
now start the car and put it in drive or 1st gear if manual,just let the engine idle spin the wheels and go under there and listen and trace where the noise is coming from....hope this helps...

[Jean]

Anybody local who knows what a bad wheel bearing sound like PM me, i'll buy you lunch if you know the difference between the bad wheel bearing and a bad diff .

[bmmf]

If you switch back to your old diff you should do the bearings at the same time. Just in case they are the bearings it will save you some work if you already have the diff out. They aren't that expensive I think they are $30 a piece from bma.