Noise from bearing or differential or tyres?

kerten

Hello,

Need expert opinions here;

I bought a 2006 lexus is250 cheap privately(I know) and then figured out it had a damage on rear driver side wheel which wasn't fixed properly.

It seems to be car slided and hit a kerb fast and everything moving on that side is subject to problems from beginning

Issues found/observations when I figured issue first time:
- Rear subframe bent where it connects to lower wishbone
- Axle is pushed into differential and seal is broken. There was no oil left in differential
- Lower wishbone was changed during fix before I bought it
- There was a wow, wow, wow type of noise when I exceeded 80 km/h similar to bearing noise
- Rear driving side wheel geometry was wrong due to bent subframe
- Rear driving side tyre wasn't round probably due to damage

I decided to fix this properly and found a second hand subframe and made my mechanic change it with replacing differential seal so geometry of car is fixed at the moment and no more differential oil leak.

Problem is noise I mentioned above is now much more audible now after fix. It starts around 50 km/h and increasing linear with speed but not with revs. (sounds like bearing issue to me)

Noise goes away when I turn right sharply and it increases if I turn to left sharply due to load change.

My mechanic can't say for sure which bearing is the issue(bearings seems fine on lift) and he also suspects differential.

I suspect of rear driver side bearing most due to damage on that side but what I read on internet says when there is a load on bearing, noise goes down.

Is that a true statement for every case ?
Should I suspect passenger side bearings instead of driver side with respect to that ?

Do you think worn differential may cause this noise which changes during sharp turns due to lack of oil for a while.

I still can't see how a differential can make more noise with oil in it comparing to having no oil in it.

I also tested how noise changes during climbing up and down. Not as much as change as turns but I felt there were less noise during climbing up and more noise climbing down.

My mechanic suggested me to change rear tyres(fronts were changed by me a week ago) first to eliminate tyre related issues then identify culprit.

I ordered my tyres already but 200 Euro per bearing, I don't wanna replace all bearings until I find correct one

Sorry for long story but I couldn't describe shorter

Alanstrainor

Could you not swap the front wheels to the rear as a test to save you buying the tyres?

Tea 1000

Sounds like bearing but could be a few things. I damaged an alloy wheel around 10 years ago and got it heat treated and repaired, but always made a bearing like sound afterwards. So could be a wheel itself or tyre either. As suggested, fronts onto the back will help identify either or rule them out.

kerten

Thanks for replies guys.

Rear wheels are wider than fronts(245 vs 225). Need to check if there will be any rubbing if I change fronts with rears.

I was planning to replace rear tyres after fixing the car anyway so I am fine to replace rears at this point.

Didn't think about wheel itself though. No visible damage from outside but need to check it on lift.

Tea 1000

kerten wrote: »

Thanks for replies guys.

Rear wheels are wider than fronts(245 vs 225). Need to check if there will be any rubbing if I change fronts with rears.

I was planning to replace rear tyres after fixing the car anyway so I am fine to replace rears at this point.

Didn't think about wheel itself though. No visible damage from outside but need to check it on lift.

There won't be any rubbing, the 245's will fit alright. My wheel back in the day was dented by a (pothole) crater on the inside of the rim, and repaired, but due to only the outside of the wheel getting washed you couldn't even tell by looking through the spokes that there was any damage.

kerten

Tea 1000 wrote: »

There won't be any rubbing, the 245's will fit alright. My wheel back in the day was dented by a (pothole) crater on the inside of the rim, and repaired, but due to only the outside of the wheel getting washed you couldn't even tell by looking through the spokes that there was any damage.

Good to know. I don't feel any vibration on floor or steering wheel that may point to damaged wheel but you never know.

Any thoughts on how bearing noise changes under load ?

Tea 1000

kerten wrote: »

Good to know. I don't feel any vibration on floor or steering wheel that may point to damaged wheel but you never know.

Any thoughts on how bearing noise changes under load ?

I would have thought that extra load would slightly quieten the noise, but maybe in your case the extra pull on the right hand wheel when turning right might make it louder despite the lighter load in terms of weight on it.
I'd definitely spend 15 minutes changing the wheels over to rule them in or out anyway first, even if you do plan on replacing the rear tyres.

kerten

Currently noise goes away if I am turning right sharply and increases if I turn left sharply at constant speeds.

I will check it more thoroughly on lift and report back.

kerten

Reporting back.

Replacing rear tyres didn't fix the issue but changing rear driver side bearing did.

Old bearing wasn't smooth but there were no noise when there is no load on it.

So looks like noise from bearing decresase when bearing is loaded is not a valid statement for every case