So I finally finished my T-belt, pump update and front seals just in time for something else to go wrong. It started out as a subtle rub-rub-rub that was rythmically in time with the wheel spin. Then the occasional clunk as I turned or reversed. And it progressed today into a serious repetitive clunking in time with the wheels revolving. It sounds like I've got a midget wedged under my car hitting my rear axle with a hammer every fourth or fifth revolution of the wheels. Rub-rub-rub clunk. Rub-rub-rub-rub-CALUNK.

I suspected some seriously bad bearings, and so I jacked up the car today. Sure enough, the driver side had some serious play. Maybe 3/8" up and down. The passenger side shifts just a bit, maybe a millimeter. So just for kicks I decide to have my wife hop in the car and spin the wheels up so I can hear the clunking just to be sure. When she revved up the engine in first, the passenger rear wheel (still jacked up with no e-brake) spins up nicely. But the rear driver's wheel didn't start to spin for a few seconds and then seemed to hesitate as it barely got purchase and started to struggle spinning. At low RPM's it sometimes didn't spin at all, until she revved it up.

I'm changing out the rear wheel bearings for sure, but this lack of free-spin really has me concerned. Is this something other than wheel bearings? My CV boots were all replaced last year and seem fine. I'm not savvy enough to know what could keep one of the wheels from spinning up the way that it ought to like that.

Thanks in advance for all of your wisdom.

early 1983 Porsche 944, n/a, stock
Portland, OR

 

W/ an open dif. that’s probably fine, only one wheel at time drives the car. It could be a number of things holding that wheel back a bit, brakes dragging a bit on that side, maybe bearing related…

 

Also, you could spin both wheels by hand (out of gear) and feel if one is “grabbing” more that the other, both should spin freely.

 

Sounds like an drivers side inboard CV to me. You can try repacking them and then swapping axles to make them turn in the other direction...note though that the results are temporary. The worst noise I ever had in my 83 is when the lower drivers side rear shock bolt was loose...it sounded just like the hammer you are talking about. I bet it CV's though. If so Parts America (Kragen) and Autozone has complete CV/axle assemblies for about $89/axle.