Rear end sounds like an airplane

[mclasser]

The back of my Accord has a noise which I can only describe as a turbo prop plane. I hear it on all road surfaces and it's most evident b/w 40-60 mph. It only goes away when I come to a complete stop. The noise doesn't change when doing a light slalom test or when putting the tranny in neutral. I don't hear it when revving the engine in park. The tires have about 30K miles on them. Air pressure's good and I don't see any unusual wear. I'm going to try and rotate them to see if the noise changes. No play in the rear wheels either. I guess I could rule out wheel bearings..?

 

[ls1mike]

Could be a wheel bearing.

 

[KingCake]

Is it AWD? I find noise around 60-65 is usually tires. But could be bearings.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Parking break.

 

[beast3300]

You most like have a bad wheel bearing (common on those vehicles). If you jack it up and spin each rear wheel interdependently you should be able to narrow it down.

 

[engineer20]

My camry also has a suspected wheel bearing issue. How do you know which one it is for sure, and is this a safe procedure?

https://youtu.be/VXx0oXyEq2k

 

[Doublehaul]

Quick check for a wheel bearing. Drive down a smooth road at 35 or 40. Slightly move the wheel left and right and listen to see of the noise changes. If it does....you have a bad bearing. This loads and unloads the bearings. No change...look at the carrier in the diff

 

[engineer20]

how do you know what side it is? if it occurs when i turn the steering wheel left, I hear that means it's the OPPOSITE side that's bad or the right side, is that true, or is it the left side, as I hear the noise as I turn to the left, and what about play in the wheel, or rotor?

 

[Doublehaul]

There is no accurate way to tell which side is bad with my method. This is why you often hear mechanics say that they replaced the bad bearing but now you can hear the other wich is also bad. HOGWASH.

With the load/unload method you can verify its a bearing...then the correct tool is called a chasi-scope. It clamps on all 4 knuckles under the car and has a set of ear buds and a dial. The mechanic drives and switches positions on the dial until he conforms the bad bearing...very easy to fix the bad part the FIRST time this way. Anything else is called guess and check!

 

[bbhero]

Pretty cool there doublehaul. A real good helpful tip. Rock on

 

[Nick1994]

I'm guessing there's a nail or chunk of something stuck in one of the tires.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: mclasser
The back of my Accord has a noise which I can only describe as a turbo prop plane. I hear it on all road surfaces and it's most evident b/w 40-60 mph. It only goes away when I come to a complete stop. The noise doesn't change when doing a light slalom test or when putting the tranny in neutral. I don't hear it when revving the engine in park. The tires have about 30K miles on them. Air pressure's good and I don't see any unusual wear. I'm going to try and rotate them to see if the noise changes. No play in the rear wheels either. I guess I could rule out wheel bearings..?


What tires? how worn.
30k could be bald or 1/4 worn.

Usually can only be a few things.
Most likely is Wheel Bearing or tires.

 

[mclasser]

So I jacked up the rear and spun both tires. The RR is quiet but the RL rumbles and has a little bit of play. A little upset I missed this during my initial inspection. The noise is just like this ETCG video from 0:25-0:30 and at 0:55. Welp, looks like a I need a new bearing. The job doesn't seem to difficult as the hub & bearing come as one assembly. Only annoying thing according to YT videos is the inner race of the bearing separates and stays stuck on the wheel spindle. With 200K miles, I'm betting mine will be a pain as well.

Is it safe to assume the other bearing is also not long for this world? Should I just replace it as preventative maintenance? Love it when these sorts of repairs crop up in the middle of winter!

 

[Trav]

I always do both one the same axle, sometimes even all 4 on my own cars. Once the failure game begins I nip it in the bud right quick.

SKF has this to say, its good enough for me.

http://www.skf.com/binary/86-61905/TT08_014.pdf

 

[MolaKule]

Quote:
Is it safe to assume the other bearing is also not long for this world? Should I just replace it as preventative maintenance? Love it when these sorts of repairs crop up in the middle of winter!


Most likely. Get a set and replace both if it is not too cold.

If it is too cold, fix the noisy side first and then wait for milder weather to replace the other side.

 

[Gasbuggy]

A rear wheel bearing failed on my Accord around 260,000 miles. I only replaced one. All the others are original still.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I always do both one the same axle, sometimes even all 4 on my own cars. Once the failure game begins I nip it in the bud right quick.

SKF has this to say, its good enough for me.

http://www.skf.com/binary/86-61905/TT08_014.pdf


Replacing both is not a bad idea, but the failure on one wheel could have been due to an isolated impact event. I think I replace more wheel bearings on the right-side of a car due to drivers hitting the curb while parking...

Also, another way to find wheel bearing failure (aside from noise and play) is during a brake job. When you check the rotor runout, and you find excessive runout, and the high spot is not always in the same spot, it's likely that you have a worn wheel bearing.

 

[crazyoildude]

+1

 

[Andrew1972]

That is typical a bad wheel bearing. If you drive side to side does it come in go?

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Could be a wheel bearing.


+1 unless it is turning into a plane in which I say build some wings. Wont have to deal with traffic anymore.