jaws

I'm stumped, so any ideas are greatly appreciated.
-The sound could best be described as a metallic rubbing sound
-The frequency is speed dependent (the faster the road speed, the greater the freq)
-Seems to be originating from the RR wheel
-Only occurs after the car has warmed up (>10 min driving)
-More pronouned when turning left. Less so when driving straight, but still there. Seems to disappear when turning right.
-No noticeable change when braking
-More noticeable under deceleration, but that might be just because I can't hear it over the engine when accelerating.

I lifted the rear wheels and checked the axel boots, and manually spun the rear wheels to see if I could hear any axel or diff noise or feel any vibration. All seems good. TIA.

xviper

Could be a wheel bearing going bad and you hear it more when it's loaded - for example, when you turn left, the right side gets more weight. When you turn right, you "unweight" the right side, taking some load off the bearing.
When you had it up in the air, did it seem like that wheel had more play in it? If you grab the whole tire and try to wiggle it, is there an unusual amoun of movement (compared to the other side)?
Have you ever had the hub nuts tighten to the newer recommended torque or 220? Not doing so may have resulted in premature bearing wear.

jaws

Dave,

It did just occur to me that the noise was more noticeable with a passenger. There was no free play in the wheel and I did wiggle it when I had the wheels in the air. I haven't had the car very long, but I do have a print out of all the service that was performed on it at T&T. There was no mention of re-tourquing the axel nuts, so I would doubt that was done. Thanks, Stephen.

xviper

There is another "test". Sometimes, this will work but not always. If the wheel bearing is bad, it will generate a lot more heat. If you can go for a good long high speed drive without using the brakes anymore than necessary, you might be able to confirm that it's the bearing. Get on the highway via the shortest route possible so you don't have to use the brakes too much or too hard. Go for at least a 30 minute drive at speed. When possible, slow down with minimal brake use and pull over to the side of the road clear of traffic. Turn off engine, leave in gear so car won't roll away. Get out and cautiously feel around the central hub area just behind the rim. Also feel the other side. The bad side might be a lot hotter than the other side.