Rear Wheel Noise

[Harold R.]

When I make a turn it sounds like a rear wheel is rubbing on something but it is not. Could this be from the rear wheel bearings? Any other ideas?

[Edward J.]

Re: Rear Wheel Noise

Harold, Rear wheel bearing tend to growl/ hum while driving down the road and when turning wheel slightly left or right the pitch will change. It may be possible the brake drum is rubbing the rear backing plate? generally there will be a shiny surface where its is rubbing on the outer drum lip or backing plate. Rusty drums will swell the cast iron. a careful inspection is needed sometimes

[Paul J.]

Re: Rear Wheel Noise

Harold,

As Ed said, rear wheel bearings growl, but they growl whether turning or not. The pitch of the sound might change in a turn, but they still make noise, and can also make noise at very low speeds. CV joints tend to stay relatively quit in a straight line and make noise mostly in turns. Of course, your car does not have these. Have a helper stand beside the car and roll it at low speed to see if they can hear which side the noise comes from. Then jack the car up and move the wheel up and down and front to back to see if there is any play in the bearing. If the bearing is bad enough, there will be play. Also, see if there is any leakage out of the axle seal, another sign of play. If your mechanical ability is good enough, you can actually feel the roughness of a bad bearing when you slowly turn the wheel with it jacked up.

This noise could also be from the rear end.

Paul

[Dan P.]

Re: Rear Wheel Noise

Swerve the car from side to side and see if makes noise only one way .That will help to determine which side the noise is on .I know the noise seams like it is coming from the back but check the front wheel bearings . Sometimes the noise will fool you . Put the car on jack stands .Make sure you have the jack stands under the rear axle so the car is at ride height.Start the car up and put in high gear or if it is a automatic let it shift up.Get under the car and pull on one side of the emergency brake cable . This will stop one wheel and let the other one turn . Maybe you can tell what side the noise is in .This may not help since you state you must be going around a corner.

[Steven B.]

Re: Rear Wheel Noise

Harold, is your '57 a posi? Steve

[Paul H.]

Re: Rear Wheel Noise

Harold, is your '57 a posi? Steve

I was thinking the same thing. A posi rear end can make alot of noise that can sometimes be corrected with a simple change of the fluid, a 4 0z bottle of GM posi lube and some figure 8's to work it into the clutches. I have been lucky with that more than once.