For gods sake......

right ho chaps..

Its been a while cos ive had a **** few weeks, but need some advice.

My sqealing noise (in previous posts) got worse and worse, and eventually turned into a dull drone (like a wheel bearing noise) - but only intermmittently.

Hippo had its MOT Wednesday - before MOT i was advised it was probably the bearing, but wasnt told 100% for sure thats what it was..

I put her through and she failed on a N/S track rod end. The guy in garage said it was probably what was causing the noise, as that helps keep the wheel stable, and when its failed like mine had, it allows the wheel to wobble and make it SOUND like your bearing is knackard when really its not. So i paid to have it done (£53 inc vat), fresh MOT, drove 6 miles and the noise came back... nopw even worse.. I dunno if its just me, but im sure i can feel the vibration through the car....

Ive jacked it up and wobbled eash front wheel, but no play..

Ive gone back to the garage and he said that he tested the bearing as part of the MOT and they were both fine..

What the hell do i do nopw people... Advice???

Its doing my fecking head in..

And to make it worse, i need to tow my daughters horse & trailer about 45 miles monday night..

Can someone advise? Should i just say **** it and shell out to change the two front bearings to see if this cures it?

99 XEDi - 133k, no other problems - Noise gets louder and faster with speed, the noise doesnt go away if i knock it into neutral and coast, and it never makes the noise if the cars been sat for a couple of hours til 3 or 4 miles into the journey..

they dont allways have any wobble to diagnose worn it can be difficult to be certain till they get really bad but cornering should make outer wheel worse as weight is thrown on it,removing pads at front and feeling while rotating it or jacking vehicle up with all four wheels off ground and running through gears

Thanks James.

The wierd thing is, it only makes the noise when im going straight ahead!! If i put even the slightest angle into the steering, the noise goes.. If i just rest me foot ever so gently on the brake pedal, it goes..

I NEVER hear the noise when cornering???

I know what your saying.. last year my wifes mondeo had a passenegr side wheel bearing that was going.. When you went aroun d a roundabout the noise was absolutely incredible!!

Thats what i dont understand about my freelander tho.. If its a bearing, why doesnt it make more noise when its under cornering load?

are you sure its not pads ,slides on caliper seized etc are pads worn evenly,dragging shoe in rear

No..

Pulled the pads out, they are fine, and coated the backs of them in copper grease to be safe, and they were all worn evenly.

From what i can tell when driving, i THINK its coming from N/S front wheel arch, BUT its so hard to tell when driving.. the noise seems to echo around the whole car..

Im well annoyed. And frankly, i dont know what to do next

i would be tempted to warm it up with short drive and get all four wheels off ground,and run it ,could be wheel brg diff, brg

Have you checked for excess heat around the wheel after a journey? If you have not used the brakes much just before stopping then it may point to the problem area?

Thanks for your input lads.. The other day i stuffed a load of high temp grease all around the hub nuit that retains the wheel bearings (did both sides just for my sanity) and the noise seems to have stopped????

Back and fore to work all week in it (32 miile round trip each day) and also an 80 mile journey with my daughters horse and trailer on the back and not a peep???

Bizarre, but glad to hear you've found a solution.

I had a similar wheel bearing sound on a Renault Megane. Turned out to be one of the tyres. Swapped the spare around and went for drives. With the offending tyre/wheel off the car, the drive was without resonant rumblings.

bizarre sometimes what the causes are.

I know what you mean twin cam.. same thing happened on the wifes mondeo..

I did hear a faint squak on the way home from work this morning, but definately no drone.. Saying that, i only had a small amount of high temp grease to stick either side.. Ill nip down to halfrauds tomorrow, buy some more and smear the bastards tomorrow..

Hopefully then that'll see to it!!

Jobs a good un