Rear Wheel Bearings
 

What's the best way to determine if my 68 Mustang's rear wheel bearings need to be replaced? There's a low-pitched roaring sound (whoah, whoah, whoah) coming from the rear when I drive it. Does it at all speeds and seems to be relative to the wheels turning, but then the sound is drowned out by the engine when I get over 50. Wouldn't bet on it, but I think my transmission, drive shaft, U-joint, and rear axle are all fine. Also, last time I had the car jacked up, the rear driver's side wheel is real hard to spin and makes like a rubbing sound, while the passenger side spins fairly freely. Brakes are new and I'm pretty sure they're adjusted properly. It doesn't make any other unusual noises like grinding, rattling, etc. when driving or making turns. Thanks for any advice.

My '66 does the same thing, as soon as I get the '93 running I'm having both rear bearings replaced. Just a guess, but I would imagine your noise gets worse if the cars driven for a while? ;)
The bad part (at least for me, and I think yours is set up the same way as mine) is that you'll have to have the bearings pressed on by a shop unless you happen to have a hydrolic press in your shop. From what I gather its not that expensive tho. I would just take the whole car in to the shop , but you can just pull the axles out and take them in. Also from what I understand, you should just go ahead and do them both at the same time, lest the problem manifest again in the near future with the other side.

Hope this helps,
J

Thanks for the advice. I talked to the GoodYear shop and they said they could do it when I got ready. I was also told to drive the car down the road and put it in neutral. If the sound disappears, supposedly it's not the wheel bearings. Also told to jack up the car and try to move the wheels in and out (at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions). If there's any play, also supposedly the bearings are bad. Plan on trying that this weekend. Just didn't want to change the bearings if they're not bad - but I believe they are.

Good advice
 

I think that's good advice from both sources. I wouldn't hesitate to replace rear wheel bearings if you think they're bad. It's really not too tough to do it yourself if you want to. If you can do your own brake job, it's really only a little more work to remove the rear axles and take them to a machine shop to have the bearings pressed off and new ones on. You might lose a little gear oil , but that's easy to replace.

I do believe the advice about putting it in neutral and coasting to determine source of noise. I don't think the diff would make any noise at all in that mode.

Check rear end oil level before going into replacing anything. It should be level with the plug. Low oil level can make noise.

Rev