Brittania

I've been getting a nasty rubbing sound from the passenger side rear wheel area, I intially thought it was the tire rubbing , but after testing and even raising the rear end a little I'm pretty sure thats not it. I get the sound whether on the gas or not. It sounds like a almost like a flat tire. Could this be my rear wheel bearing? I had changed the rotors ,brakes and installed wheel adapters and new wheels before this noise appeared. Could it be a warped rotor? I'm thinking bearing but am not in the mood to go pulling em out. What you think ? Car is a 86 951, went form 16" phones to 17" twists wiht 255 rear.

Waterguy

I just replaced mine. The first time I knew it was going out was when an instructor at DE said "it sounds like you have a wheel rubbing." It kept getting worse, and became a "WHOOwhooWHOOwhoo" sound at any speed over 30 mph, straight line or turning, accelerating or braking. Replacing the wheel bearing cured the problem, although I couldn't see anything wrong with the old one. If you plan on doing it yourself, I highly recomend getting a slide hammer and Bruce Arnn's wheel bearing tool.

pearldrum944

Take the car for a drive on a neighborhood road. Drive about 5 mph and let the clutch out, then try to listen carefully. I found that it helps to move you head around inside the car, stick it out your door, or have the passenger window open. Mine sounded kind of like a low pitch scratching noise that was obviously coming from the edges of the drvetrain (wheel bearing area).

Mike Murcia

Inspect your tires well. I had a flat spot on one that sounded very much like a bad wheel bearing.

pearldrum944

Oh, also you can lift the car and shake the wheel. Grab it on two opposite ends and try to see if it will pivot back and forth any. If it does the bearings are generally bad.

Waterguy

All good ideas, but I would point out that mine made no noise at all below 30 mph. As far as shaking the tire, it has to be be pretty much destroyed before you get movement in the bearing. Good thought about flat-spotted tires.

KLR

Possibly a rubbing parking brake?

F18Rep

It is suspicious that the problem started right after the spacer/wider wheels went on. I'ld sure as heck be sure it wasn't something easy before pulling the bearings.
On my NA, I swapped out the bearings but still had a little rumble above 50, was thinking R&P but then noticed the run-out one day when driving behind the wife.

Thanks Don - I owe ya one ;] Bruce

Dmitry S.

Moving the wheel out via spacers also moves the pivot point of the rear suspension outward. This puts just a bit more strain on the rear wheel bearings. The wheel bearing might have been on the way out already, but adding spacers and a higher offset wheel might have made the situation a little bit worse, causing the bearing to start making noise.

As for Pearldrum's suggestion, I tried the wiggle test on my S2 and the wheel seemed steady as a rock, but when i pulled the bearings apart, they almost crumbled away in my hand!

I say if the car has over 120k miles, it's about due for new wheel bearings anyways. They're relatively inexpensive ($40 each?) and on the earlier style rear suspension, not that bad to do. For me to consider driving any car at high speeds, I would make sure the wheel bearings were without a doubt in good condition.

Clowd

When my rear wheel bearing was bad, it kind of sounded like the tire was completely flat, and was flapping against the ground. That was along with a literally deafening hum... I didn't have any play in the wheel though, just an insane amount of noise.

Brittania

I'm thinking it's the bearing, I double checked the parking brakes (removed ,installed and adjusted). I'll have a friend hang his head out the window while I'm driving it , see if he can pick up on the source. I'll also check that wheel for flat spots. Thanks to everyone for their advice.

AndyK

This might be a stupid question - When I in stalled my D90's, and the car was up in the air, I turned the front wheel by hand, and it didn't turn as smooth as I expected. Sounded like a rubbing noise, very low, but I thought maybe the rim was scraping against the rotor (that kinda noise).

Is there always some amount of friction when the wheels when they are turning? Or am I in for wheel bearings too??

Brittania

I took her out for a burn last night, if I drive real slow i cannot hear the noise, if I drive real fast I cannot hear it too good. At moderate speed I can hear it and if I swerve side to side the noise is still present (so I guess my bearing are ok?). Could this be a CV joint? What does a failing cv joint sound like? This noise is a whup whup whup noise like a rubbing tire. I checked the tire for flat spots but i really can't tell. Maybe i'll switch the wheels over and see if the noise changes sides.

xsboost90

i did a wheel bearing on the 924, it was just plain loose- wheel bearing looked ok but you could move the wheel alot back and forth. I did one on a 911 that was very tight, but made a bad groaning noise. If you pull the half shaft and brake junk off and spin the hub in the bearing, itll be apparent that it is making noise.

fastman

I have had to replace both CV's in the last couple of years on my '89 na. The noise was a thump-thump, not quite metalic. I live near a naval air station. One day on my way out of town, I thought "why are they flying helos here?" Ah, it was winter, put the window down, sure enuff. CV, noise. That joint was pretty toasted. The other side was similar, a year later. Should have done them both when the first went. Both went in the 140k range. Now have 165k. No worrys. Hope this helps.