Wheel bearings?

Jon O.

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My 72 Newport has this whirring sound coming from the rear axle when I drive. It seems to get somewhat louder as I go faster. It comes from both sides. It was there when I bought the car in September, but I think it is getting louder. I was told by one person that it sounded like wheel bearings, and another person told me that my steering wander problem probably comes from the rear, and that the two are probably related. Does this sound like wheel bearings to any of you?
 
I lost a bearing in my Newport's axle. As it was wearing it would be louder on a turn to the left as opposed to the right. Confirmed for me what the problem was.

Bets way to be sure is to take it to a shop and have them check. If it is a bad bearing, and your axle is an 8.75, the axles will need to be pulled and new bearing pressed on. You can swap to "green bearings" if you wish. It's not that difficult of a job, but one you cannot do yourself without a press.
 
I lost a bearing in my Newport's axle. As it was wearing it would be louder on a turn to the left as opposed to the right. Confirmed for me what the problem was.

Bets way to be sure is to take it to a shop and have them check. If it is a bad bearing, and your axle is an 8.75, the axles will need to be pulled and new bearing pressed on. You can swap to "green bearings" if you wish. It's not that difficult of a job, but one you cannot do yourself without a press.

Thank you, I needed to know that.
 
Since the noise is coming from both sides, it could also be a carrier bearing or pinion bearing. Noise from the carrier will often telegraph out the axles. Pull the filler plug from the differential case and check the condition of the oil, contaminated oil will also cause abnormal noise. Contamination often occurs if a vehicle is driven thru water deep enough to cover the rear axle assembly, water will get into the vent.
The best way to check the rear wheel bearings is to pull the rear axles and check the bearing races for pits, etc. Oil seeping past the seals and into the brake drums is a good indication of failing axle bearings. Usually a bad pinion bearing will change the pitch of the noise as you apply or let off the throttle. A bad carrier bearing will usually be a steady rumble that increases in volume as the speed is increased.

Dave
 
It would be unusual for both rear wheel bearings to go "bad" at the same time. As noted, when you sway the car side to side, the offending bearing will get louder when the load shifts to that side and vice versa. Same with the pinion bearing being louder with more power being applied to it.

As I recall, the FSM illustrates how to change the bearing. The "removal" is by disassembly of the bearing, roller by roller. When it's all removed, then the new one is pressed on. Might be some special holding fixture involved?

IF the particular axle shaft has wear, you can lightly apply the brake while driving. The brake shoes will center the axle shaft and remove load from the bearing. If there's a wear trough on the shaft, the noise will be greatly diminished.

In any event, best to get the car to a reputable shop, even a good Chrysler/Dodge dealer in your area, and get the axle lube and such inspected. It would not hurt to change the rear axle lube anyway. With the rear cover removed, you can look at the gear set, too.

With the car on a body-contact lift, you can put the trans in "D", let the engine idle, and use a stethoscope to listen to the sounds it makes and where they are coming from. Look for u-joint possibilities, too.

IF, worst case scenario, you need the pinion bearings, wheel bearings, and the carrier side bearings, it might be about $1k to do all of that. Odds are you won't need all of that KEY is to get it looked at soon as it's not going to fix itself.

When the rear suspension affects the "wander", it's because the rear axle is shifting on its mountings as the wheels might encounter bumps and such. In the case of the Chrysler rear suspension, the main mountings are the front eye bushing and the rear shackle bushings. Check them for cracking and deterioration. On the "Torsion Quiet Ride" cars, of which yours is one, the rear axle mount to the spring saddle has rubber isolation where that all bolts together. If that rubber has deteriorated, it can allow for some movement within the mount by the axle. Earlier cars had more solid axle mounts. I believe one of the suspension parts vendors has some harder rubber isolators, which aren't very expensive at all. The car would need to be suspended on a body-contact lift to do that swap.

ALSO, look at the tires for irregular wear of the tread. One customer came in one cay and wanted a rear wheel hub for his car. Said it was getting noisy. Two weeks later, he brought it back . . . rear tire noise, which new tires fixed.

So, several things which might be causing your noise. Diagnose carefully. Keep us posted.

CBODY67
 
The car sat for 20 years, and is hardly ever driven, so it could be that the grease has turned to varnish. I might take a look at it this weekend.
 
Check your fluid level and condition of it. If it's toast then that could be the reason that they both took a dump at the same time but rare. Maybe throw a person in the trunk and go for a drive and have them see exactly where the noise is commin from? If it sat for 20 yrs. you should be doing a lot more checking on the condition of others things as well before they crop up their ugly head. Good Luck
 
There's a pretty good chance the wheel bearings are toast. Pinion and carrier bearings... not so much.

IMHO, the wheel bearings are the same across the board.. An A-body (with the same rear) has the same bearing as a C-body. With the numbers of wheel bearing issues that I've read on this forum and my personal experience, it seems to me that this is kind of common. They never get repacked like the front bearings, so old grease and I'll bet the extra weight of the C doesn't help.

Diagnosing a noise, especially across the internet is tough and sometimes almost impossible.
 
Check your fluid level and condition of it. If it's toast then that could be the reason that they both took a dump at the same time but rare. Maybe throw a person in the trunk and go for a drive and have them see exactly where the noise is commin from? If it sat for 20 yrs. you should be doing a lot more checking on the condition of others things as well before they crop up their ugly head. Good Luck
Wheel bearings don't run in the rear fluid. They are packed like your front wheel bearings with a rubber seal on the axle shaft between them and the rear fluid.

The carrier bearings do run in the fluid though.
 
The car sat for 20 years, and is hardly ever driven, so it could be that the grease has turned to varnish. I might take a look at it this weekend.

The other thing that happens when a car sits for twenty years is that the top of the gear set and the carrier bearings will rust because the grease has all run off or evaporated with time. Moisture will condense on the gear and bearing surfaces and rust forms. This leaves the gear set and the bearing pitted and they will fail in short order once the vehicle is moving again. Also possible that who ever you bought the car from had noise issues in the rear when they parked it twenty years ago. Cars that are parked often have some issue that caused them to be parked in the first place. This is probably an 8.75 rear end, pull the rear axles and look for rust on the wheel bearings. Once the axles are out, you can put the car in drive and listen for any abnormal noise coming from the carrier. Be sure to block the front wheels as both the park and E-Brake are disabled with the axles out. Shut the key off and let everything stop spinning before trying to put the car back in park.

Dave
 
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The other thing that happens when a car sits for twenty years is that the top of the gear set and the carrier bearings will rust because the grease has all run off or evaporated with time. Moisture will condense on the gear and bearing surfaces and rust forms. This leaves the gear set and the bearing pitted and they will fail in short order once the vehicle is moving again. Also possible that who ever you bought the car from had noise issues in the rear when they parked it twenty years ago. Cars that are parked often have some issue that caused them to be parked in the first place. This is probably an 8.75 rear end, pull the rear axles and look for rust on the wheel bearings. Once the axles are out, you can put the car in drive and listen for any abnormal noise coming from the carrier. Be sure to block the front wheels as both the park and E-Brake are disabled with the axles out. Shut the key off and let everything stop spinning before trying to put the car back in park.Dave

Good point. On my hippy van after having it for a couple years, a front bearing when out. So I replaced both sides, let me tell you that that grease was so dried out and hard, it was like candle wax removing it. I'm surprised that they lasted that long.
It wouldn't surprised me if you have the same like this going on with you? Good Luck
 
Perhaps that hypoid grease "smell" has dried-up too?

When you remove the rear cover, you can see the ring gear's condition as to tooth surface condition.

CBODY67
 
Perhaps that hypoid grease "smell" has dried-up too?

When you remove the rear cover, you can see the ring gear's condition as to tooth surface condition.

CBODY67

If this is an 8.75 there is no rear cover.
 
I keep thinking of other rear axles that have removable covers. Sorry for that indiscretion.

On our '72 Newport Royal, when we got it I noticed that the parking brake cable runs differently near the rear axle/body. Seems like I recall trying to move it a little so it wouldn't be quite so close to the underbody of the car?

CBODY67
 
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