Strange noise from the rear wheels

[ArtOfRuin]

I couldn't get the car up on the lift today or check out the rear brake assembiles due to the rain, but the noise now only occurs during braking. There's no vibrations, either.

[classicauto]

Originally Posted by ArtOfRuin

I couldn't get the car up on the lift today or check out the rear brake assembiles due to the rain, but the noise now only occurs during braking. There's no vibrations, either.

If its up in the air, grab the top and bottom of the tire and push it in and out feeling for any play. If its not 100% tight - its the wheel bearing.

But checking run out on the rotors is certainly a good idea, I wouldn't rule anything out yet, but I just know that the rear wheel bearings in these cars are something that never gets attention. They're not serviceable either. chances are your 20 year old FC has original wheel bearings.......so they're bound to make some noise.

You can also assess this while driving, although its much harder to do when the problems in the back. But go for a drive and turn your radio off. Listen for the noise while doing some gradual hard left and right turns (make sure no ones around, drunk driving suspicions may arise )if the noise gets louder while cornering, its almost 100% rear wheel bearings (possibly fronts too...) if it goes away while turning one way or the other chances are only one is bad. If you can imagine the loads being placed on the wheel while cornering you'll unsdertand why thats the case.....

And one more thing - if the bearing is really toast, you can actually get more noise out of it while braking because you're placing more load it and althuogh its different from a cornering load, any load will make it howl more (if its bad)