C5Conrad

I have a sound coming from the rear of my car. I checked 12 and 6 o-clock and 3 and 9 o-clock for play on each side. I get a miniscule amount of play at 3 and 9 o-clock on the driver side. Does this indicate a tie rod needing replacement, or could it still be the wheel bearing? No play at 12 and 6.

My tuner, Dr Phil, told me it's a wheel bearing, but I wanted to hear from you guys also. When I got an alignment a while ago, the people there said my rear inner tie rods were bent, but I believe they bent them doing the alignment.

Suggestions on good replacement parts would be fantastic also.

Thanks guys.

Zealot06

What kind of sound? If you suspect a bearing you probably hear a whirring sound that changes pitch with changes in speed. If that's the case, then I would change the wheel bearings without hesitation, especially if you have more than 60K miles.

I had a similar problem and replaced both rear bearings. Bought Moogs and they're great. No more bearing noise.

Hope this helps!

C5Conrad

I can't hear it over my B&B bullets and cam, but I guess the tuner can.

Car has 68k miles.

C5Conrad

Anyone else?

bob22z06

What kind of sound?...more detail please. .if u worry about the movement in a wheel if I can remember mine has slight movement when u move the tire while its off the ground the 3 and 9 o'clock I think its normal these cars are not horse wagons...the only problem I found one time after the alignment the shop didn't tighten the points(on the control arms) they have loosened for the alignment ...thats why I always check someone else's work all the time. ..

C5Conrad

I can't hear the sound, but the wheel definitely moves a bit with the 3 and 9 check. Play in a wheel is NOT normal for any car. Sure it's normal that it happens, but the play shouldn't be there.

I'm taking my car to the tuner again tomorrow (retuning for a new cam) and I'll let him know what I found and what he thinks.

TGO

There are tie rods in the rear?

C5Conrad

I'm not sure that's their technical name, but yes, you can adjust rear toe in/out. I don't see a reason to do that, but it's there.

C5 Hardtop

Taking a set on turn 1 at 134 MPH at SIR, my *** end slipped. Scared the **** out of me. Turned out my right rear wheel would move side to side. the problem was the A-Arm came loose at the cradle. The fix was to take it back to speedware motorsports who touched it a week prior.

k24556

pull your e-brake on to lock the rear wheels. This should lock the rotor to the spindle arm. Then any 3-9 motion will be suspension. If you have a 3-9 wiggle, then give the tie rod a tug back and forth. There is a nut on the tie rod that attaches it to the diff cross member (opposite from the tie-rod end). It can be loose, but usually the response is wandering of the car on a straight road and no noise.

Then, there is the tie-rod end. the nut holding it tight to the spindle arm could be loose. You will need a (I think, but not sure of the size) a 40 TORX and an 18mm wrench.

After that the previous poster is on to the next possibility, the adjust eccentric of the lower A arm.

The shock mounting could be loose, but that would only be noise and not a 3-9 movement

I would suspect that if you hear a thumping type noise it would be suspension. Usually it is the sway bar end link nuts which are notorious for getting just loose enough to make a thump noise.

If the bearing has that much slop it is really gone. They usually make a moaning noise that gets worse when you load that wheel during driving. For example, the right wheel is loaded more in a left curve.

Sometimes noises you think are in the rear are actually in the front, so be sure to check all four corners.

C5Conrad

We killed the motor doing about 70 and noticed the sound right away. Sounds like a wheel bearing to me, loud humming. Going to check it out this weekend if I have time.

k24556

Also check for a loose axle nut and bright green grease around the CV joint. The boots usually puke out the grease before they make noise. However, the CV joints can hum as well.
The key is if the sound changes when you load one sode vs the other, so going around acurve and listening. YOu should be able to feather the throttle and quiet the exhaust. I don't think shutting off the engine in a curve is a good idea, expecially if your column lock is still working. Just be careful.

Z06ness03

If it was the wheel bearing you would have play in both vertical and horizontal directions or would if you rotated the wheel. Also a wheel bearing will usually groan at certain speeds while cruising. Next time you shake your wheels do it with your head under the car and looking at the tie rod. If the tie rod shakes bad tie rod, if the wheel bearing jiggles bad bearing.

C5Conrad

We killed it on a straight back road, and he knew to turn the key to on. No big deal.

Crank pulley decided to walk itself off into the rack, so this weekend I get to deal with that. This thing is really wanting to stay off the road this season.