02 LS road noise

chris09

Registered
it seems i have a unusual amount of road noise coming from the rear of the car. i was wondering if anyone else has or had this issue? one person suggested the bearings, another the tires.
 
Start with the tires....bearings make a distinctive noise.

Rotate the tires and see if it changes, also check to see if your car has shock/strut mounts at the top.
 
As tiers wear they can become noisier, also tires are noisier on groved cement then blacktop. Check your inflation and the amount of tread left.
 
I'm pretty mechanically inclined and have been playing with cars for over 20 years, as a hobby and professionally, but mostly imported cars - so i'm not ignorant of any auto-related issues. So while my questions - at times - may seem pretty elementary - i only ask because i'm not familiar with domestic cars as i am with imports, but they are all pretty much the same in that they have the same issues. I just wanted you guys to know that, so you don't have to hold my hand or reply with kid-gloves :)

so with that out of the way - tires are pretty new and have good PSI - only about 10% tread wear. its not the road - same noise, all road conditions. i know what a bad bearing sounds like, but since its in the rear - its hard to tell. if anything - i would say its the tires - if that's the general consensus.
 
I am guessing these are not the OEM tires and that they were replaced with another brand. You can check a web site like tirerack and check the feed back on the road noise of the OEM tires vs. the tires you have now.
 
Road noise...

Road noise...

I've had a road noise coming from the back for the past 3 months with my LS 2003. My dealer said at first that it was the front left bearing so they changed it and it was the same. I went back and then they said it was my tires. I put my winter tires and i still had that noise. So they changed the front right bearing, same situation. All that even if i told them many times that i was hearing that noise from the back !!! I decided to get an opinion from another Ford dealer. Diagnosis: Left differrential bearing. It's not fixed yet (this time, it's not under warranty...).
 
but mostly imported cars

Lol...your car IS imported...its "made" by Jaguar!

Diagnosis: Left differrential bearing. It's not fixed yet (this time, it's not under warranty...).

Dang...that crazy! Good thinking going to another dealer! A diff bearing will definitally resonate throughout the car.



Chris....take your car out and slalom it side to side at a speed that you hear the noise. If the noise gets ANY louder when the car dips to one side, that side has a bad wheel bearing. If the noise stays the same no matter how hard you serve, its going to be tires or a differential bearing. :D
 
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