Dwayne Williams

I'm hearing a noise from the passenger rear that's gotten louder over the last week or so. It's a hum that gets louder with speed (faster = louder) and changes depending on direction. If I turn right the noise gets a little higher and louder. If I turn left the noise gets quieter. Even a quick flick of the steering wheel to the left at speed makes it quieter. No clanking or vibrations - just a loud, annoying hum. Tires are relatively new Michelin Pilot Sports (6 months) and pressure is fine.

Just looking to see if anyone else can help pinpoint the cause of this before I start pulling parts. The archives have a few articles on wheel bearing noise but most of them have additional noises or slightly different symptoms.

Thanks.

Luis de Prat

Sounds very much like wheel bearings. There's an inner set and an outer set per hub. On the late cars, it's a bit of a PITA, but there's no way around it.

One way to check, is raising the rear of the car and trying to wiggle the wheels. Any play will definitely indicate bad bearings, but they can also have gone bad without any looseness in the wheel. I didn't check this last time in the 83. I've come to know the sound well enough!

turbo944

Actually I think at the rear there is just one bearing per side, but it makes the front bearings together look teeny tiny. I have mine at home where I swapped between early and late offset hubs. I thought the price was pretty high for it from Paragon, but wanted to do them and have them done...he it back to me whole and I was amazed at the size of that thing!

I'd suggest changing both rear bearings at the same time if you are going to do them....heck, since the front ones are much easier, might be best to do them as well and know you should be good on them for quite some time.

Brian McCoy

Sounds just like when mine went out... $500 later (damn shop rates at $82/hour and an hour per wheel) everything's back to normal.

Matt H

Arent the rears a sealed bearing assembly (why Andrew describes them as one bearing much bigger than the front)? If so then there is an inner and outer it is just inside the casing.
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