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Rear wheel noise

tommytmopar

tommytmopar

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my RR has developed a rear wheel noise. As I get to 40 mph sounds like the right rear wheel is grinding, gets louder as speed increases. Popped the trans in neutral still got it. Have my green wheel bearings started going bad? Could it be brake related? Parking brake? I thought it was the chunk but changed that out got the same condition. 8 3/4 rear. My foam seals were pretty bad wonder if I’ve damaged those bearings. They don’t have a lot of miles but I’ve been extremely rough on the rear end. Thanks in advance.
 
I fumbled around on the van for a time looking for an annoying noise like that. Next thing you know the tread blew clean off at highway speed, did damage to the quarter in the process. I'd try a spare tire if you have something, to rule-out the tires themselves first, and then go on to whell bearings if need be.
 
I should of mentioned new tires on the rear. Same sound before and after. I still have to get new on the front. The rear got so old one developed a knot.
 
I just replaced my green bearings this week; my 2nd set. I ran about 1500 miles to find the right rear was bad while the left was less bad. Two mechanics I know who own their shops looked at them when I brought the axles in for some confirmation about what I was guessing; both said same thing...they were trashed. I don't drive my car hard; rarely really get on it. These bearings I find are a love - hate thing. They're supposed to be rock solid for racing - ahh straight line; but are not well reputed to handle aggressive lateral forces. I drive more time with some car bud's out in the country when not going to car shows with some winding roads here and there and don't drive my car like a Porsche. I hope I'm wrong with the durability of these bearings for typical street driving...now on my 2nd set to make a 2nd check! Hope your issue isn't the bearings; just sharing my fresh 'experience'. If it's possibly wheel bearings, try driving around some curves left and right and listen to the noise, see if you find it gets nosier or quieter on the curves.
 
Do it once and do it right, put it back to OEM. Mine were 50+ years old on the Bee.. 150,000 + miles and still as new when I rebuilt and I'll probably kick my *** that I changed them with NOS timkens and just didn't leave them alone. I can not understand what advantage putting "green" bearings in does for anyone.
 
I’ll say it again.....ALL factory housings have a bend. That is why Timken’s are used as they allow for a bit of misalignment. Having said that, Greens will not last. Pull the axles and check your bearings. If bad, you’ve got a choice, go back to Timken’s, have your housing checked for straightness, install new Greens.
 
This is the second time I have heard about bad green bearings in the last couple of days. I too see no logical reason to go with the green bearings. It's just as labor intensive as stock, and costs a little more. Go guess.
 
No they aren’t. Once pressed on, that’s it. You don’t have to set end play, assuming the thrust block is out of the carrier.
 
Just 10 or 15 more minutes of work going OE... just to avoid how many failures in your lifetime after that using Greens?
beerestoration2017 565.JPG

beerestoration2017 563.JPG
 
Timken’s are great, no doubt about it. Setting end play is fast and easy. But for how many failures are there that have not failed. Keep in mind, the all mighty 9 inch uses a Green style bearing and supposedly they go to rear for everything.
 
See Dr Diffs website for an explanation of good green bearings, and bad green bearings.

Still using tapered bearings in my stuff.
 
As I said before to many, but not all persons, my thoughts as to the capabilities of ball bearings (Green style) vs tapered roller bearings (Timken Tapered Roller Bearings specifically). Tapered toller bearings are far more capable of both simultaneously AXIAL AND RADIAL LOADS than single row ball bearings, given the same operating parameters and loads. YES....tapered roller bearings are more expensive, but does this slight cost increase offset the hassel factor and cost of doing the job over again. Yes....single row ball bearings have a definite place but not in a rear axle bearing application.
I'm sure the Green bearing proponents will continue to maintain their own opinions and preferences as to why their method is better. For my money and my car, I'll continue to use Timken Tapered rear axle bearings with adjusters and front wheel bearings and only TIMKEN by brand name. Just my opinion of course.
Bob Renton
 
I don’t see any reason at all for green bearings on a stock rear axle. It is not an upgrade, it is not better. If they were better there wouldn’t be all these problem threads. Think about it.

When you start narrowing housings and aftermarket axle shafts then it’s harder to get everything the correct length for the tapered roller bearings to fit.
 
Last edited:
5.7 hemi said:
I’ll say it again.....ALL factory housings have a bend. That is why Timken’s are used as they allow for a bit of misalignment. Having said that, Greens will not last. Pull the axles and check your bearings. If bad, you’ve got a choice, go back to Timken’s, have your housing checked for straightness, install new Greens.
Click to expand...

Which axle housing are you referring to. Dana 60 and or 8 3/4" ??? The center section is an alloy steel casting with axle tubes welded in. The axle tubes are alloy steel either made from DOM (drawn over mandrel to insure straightness) tubing which is measured by OD x Wall thickness or seamless pipe which is measured by ID x schedule (schedule 5 or 10 or 40 or 80 which states the wall thickness). DOM TUBING is made to an ASTM spec for straightness or seamless pipe which is made to an ASME code spec like SA312S-TP (for tubular products) 304/304L for stainless (typical) or SA105 for carbon steel (typical). All types have a straightness requirement as well as OD and ID minimums/maximums. The assemblies are jig welded to insure accurate assembled dimensions. And possibly normalized for stress relief. Just my opinion of course
Bob Renton
 
Bottom line......TIMKEN tapered bearings....It is a one and done.....
 
If you can find an 8 3/4 or Dana housing that is perfectly straight after 40-50 years of use, buy a lotto ticket. I narrowed my buddy’s D60 truck housing that has 3/8 wall tubing and it was slightly bent. How did I know it was bent? I have a center less ground bar and machined pucks to go with it. It was off an 1/8. Also before I started narrowing housings, the place I went to told me “no housing is perfectly straight”! Now if you bought one from Moser, Strange, etc., yeah, they are gonna be straight.
 
Ball bearings have been around longer than tapered bearings have been around so what does a tapered bearing do that a ball bearing doesn't do ? What does a wide tire do in the sand or mud do that a skinny tire doesn't do. It spreads the load over a much larger area. The bearings do exactly the same thing. If the axle housing diameter was larger you could use larger ball bearings to compensate but you don't. All of our rwd cars use tapered bearings in the front . Why is that ? Back in the fifties most used ball bearings but don't anymore. Why is that ? Trucks all used tapered bearings only. Why is that ? See a pattern yet. Green bearings are cheaper to manufacture, require less maintenance and skill to install. Don't try to change the design that the engineers designed for this application. Parts sellers sell parts, both good and bad. Read the following facts and educate yourselves:
https://www.carid.com/articles/wheel-bearings.html
 
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