I haven't had read all of the replies so sorry if I'm just repeating what someone else is writing. But I recently had a rear wheel bearing issue that I'd like to share. It started out as a bearing issue and turned into something else, so bear with me (no pun intended). I don't know what your exact issue is, but I'll offer some insight on whether its a bearing issue or not.

I first discovered the bearing issue when I brought my car to the shop recently for something else. I too have a noise coming out of the rear tire when the thing is rotating. But I didn't go to the shop for that reason. I've been driving with it for a while thinking its just a lube/grease problem. The mechanic noticed that the wheel, rotor, hub (the whole assy) wobbled when he lifted the car as the wheel sort of dropped as soon as it lifted off the ground. Meaning you can pivot it along the center. He showed me by wiggling the wheel. The mechanic says that he's 99% sure a wobbling wheel assy is a bearing/hub issue. As I was reading your post, I didn't see you describe this wobble action. So if I were you, I'd jack your car up on each wheel, and see if you can wobble it up/down. If you can't, then it's likely isn't a bearing/hub issue.

I brought my car to a friend of mine who is also a mechanic and he confirmed that its likely bearing issue. So we ordered the part and proceed to replace it in his shop. HOWEVER, while replacing the bearing, we discovered a more likely cause of the wheel wobble. We found that the large axel nut had backed out, and no longer torqued and tight to the rotor. You could actually turn it with your finger (thank goodness for the cotter pin). We went ahead and replaced the bearing anyways, and retorqued the axel nut. We concluded that the old bearing is probably not bad and that the axel nut was the likely cause of the wobble. That was last month. Last week, I noticed that the ride quality has changed and felt like it was before I replaced the bearing and torqued the axel nut. So I jacked the car up and wiggled the wheel and found that it was wobbling again. I found that the axel nut had backed out again. So I retorqued it and applied loc tite. No more wobble. Now if it backs out again, I'll probably replace the nut.

Long story short, I want to say that 1) unless you can wobble your wheel when its jacked up, then its likely not a bearing issue. And 2) if you found that it wobbles, check and torque your axel nut as that might solve the problem.

 

For the axle nut to back out twice suggests something might have some play in it causing it to loosen up.

Did you replace the hub as well with the bearing?

 

I replaced just the rear bearing. It was hard to find the hub in the rear. But yes, you're right. It could be the hub or something else causing the axel nut to back out. If it wobbles again, then I'll replace the nut. And if it wobbles after the nut, then I'll move onto the hub.

Thanks for the input.

 

Mine was a bad bearing, even though it did not have any play in it. I believe with the sealed design of these bearings, having play in them is not as likely as with some other wheel bearing setups. I replaced it already, and when you turn the old bearing in your hands, you can hear the noise, though you might not notice it if you weren't in a quiet space with it near your ear. It almost sounds like what you might expect to hear if the bearing was brand new and assembled without grease.. just a slight sound of metal rolling along another metal surface.

The sound is definitely not loud enough to hear when on the car, as even the sound of the other mechanical components (CV joints in the axle shaft and the differential) are actually more noticeable than the sound of my bearing. But when it was on the car and rolling down the road, the hum/groan was still very significant!

It's also definitely more apparent when you compare it side-by-side with a new bearing.

 

I've been noticing that there is a quiet, but still quite noticeable droning sound coming from the after-half of my drivetrain. It's speed dependant, but not RPM dependant and happens in any gear. I'd liken the sound to a very throaty motorcycle, like a big Ducati, following from a few car-lengths behind me.

Also, occasionally while coming down in speed (50kph -> 20kph) the vibration and noise becomes much more pronounced. The shifter will shake very noticeably in my hand as well. It's very difficult to replicate when I want to make it happen, but seems to happily do it when I'm not focusing on it (which is more annoying than the noise and vibration itself).

I checked the rear wheels for wobbling or play and found none, but this post has me concerned as it appears that a damaged wheel bearing may not have play. Could it also be a differential or driveshaft problem? I'm going to be pulling a diff oil sample for Blackstone Labs regardless. If I find anything interesting I'll try make sure to post the results here.

Cheers!

 

None of my failed wheel bearings had any wobble or play. They were all tight. Also, I've had two bad ones at the same time.

You might have another one going out on you.

 

Just scanned this whole post, I think it's time to replace my rear wheel bearings. I had a loud rumble noise that I thought was bad tires since it changed "tone" over different pavement surfaces. Got new tires and the sound went way down, however I'm still getting a drone noise. My wife drove my car recently and made a comment that my car sounded like an old prop-plane was flying overhead, guess I was just getting used to the noise.

I like the idea that someone suggested above and picking up a knuckle to replace parts on my bench.

If that doesn't fix the noise, my other ideas for culprits are the driveshaft center bearing and then possibly bearings in the diff itself. Probably just bearings though. Car has 197k miles on it, plus I've already changed 3 bearings on our Armada, so maybe Nissan just has bad bearings on vehicles from this era.

 

i had similar issues. A bearing gone bad will whine when going out. The whining gets louder and more high pitched the longer it's not fixed. Usually the hub will be fine. Just find someone who can press the old ones off and the new ones on. Shouldn't be more than a bill.

Check your our brake rotors. If they are warped they will produce noise and they are super easy to replace. Just make sure you hook up the pads correctly.

I also had diferential fail on me. Bought a used one with less miles than mine for a hundred dollars on eBay. I put white line Polly bushings in to help stiffen it up. So far so good. The did will likely "clunk" when put in gear or switch into reverse from drive or neutral.

 

Definitely do not pay a shop to do this repair. Our cars use a wheel bearing assembly and do not require you to push out the old bearing. Go down to your local autozone and pick up a wheel bearing for $150 and find a video online. I did both my rear wheel bearing assembly's and it probably took 3 hours total.

 

uhhh rears are pressed in. Fronts are whole assembly. Rears are just sold as bearing and hub separate

 

You can buy the hub+bearing assembly for the rear complete. Cost more but saves time/convenience of removing the old bearing (in pieces normally) and playing with a press.

 

well damn I've been looking for something like that just could never find it lol. Who sells them?

 

I've seen them on eBay, Amazon and IIRC RockAuto as well. Just have to be persistent they seem to come and go at will. You might also want to try the online OEM sites like infinitiparts or one of our sponsor vendor dealers like OC Infiniti.

 

got it. Definitely willing to spend the extra going that route instead of doing the press ins!

 

OEM sites will only sell the rear bearing and hub as separate pieces. Local shop shouldn't charge much (if anything) to press the two together. Then replacing them is a breeze. That's what I would do if I have to replace the rears again, separating the hub from old bearing was a pain, totally worth the $25 for new hubs.

FEBEST 0282-T30R Rear Wheel Hub Link: http://a.co/1eOQumh
Combined with a Timken BM500006 bearing should be golden. Approx $70 for both parts is a good deal.

No idea what brand bearing those combo kits on eBay are using, and cost twice as much.