I have a 98 I30t with a 5spd with 125,000 miles. Recently I have been getting a loud roaring sound mostly from the rear of the car. I had some old kumho ectas with about 22k miles on them and they were getting old so I just replaced them with a some 235/45/17 Yoko Avid H4s. I couldn't wait to hear a much quieter riding car but I have been sadly dissapointed with this new set of tires and I am beginning to wonder if I might have a more serious issue in the rear bearings/suspension. I have H&R with Illuminas with motivational mounts in the rear. It handles great but this noise in the rear has gotten worse.

Tonight my first run up to 80mph with the new tires and the roar is louder than ever. Are bearings a common replaceable item and would they exhibit this type of noise. It sounds like a wuh, wuh, wuh, and increase with the speed of the car until a constant roar is heard and I have even shoved a bunch of sound deadening insulation over the rear wheelwells and sparetire hole, to try and cut down on this awful noise. I appreciate any advice, sorry for the length but I wanted to be as specific as possible.

 

Sounds like wheel bearings. I had to change mine at about 113k. One way to test is to grab the top (inside edge) of your wheel and pull out really hard. If you feel or hear any movement, it's the bearings. I lean toward bearings because you changed tires and the noise remained.

They can be a total pain in the *** to change or they can be relatively simple. Just depends how good a hold the bearings have taken to the spindle over the years.

 

Were yours showing these same noise symptoms and was it the rears? How did you do it and how much does it cost? I am very mechanically inclined and have good tools but I heard you need a slide hammer and a 20 ton press to get these changed. Thanks BSwith

 

Yes, it sounds like the same noise. Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah...... Both rears were toast.

If your mechanically inclined, it shouldn't be too hard. They aren't pressed on. They just slide over the spindle and are held by the nut on the outside. The part itself is everything you see after you pull the rotor off. It's all one piece (hub w/ wheel studs, bearings). Mine were so bad, the outer part with the wheel studs pulled right off and I used a pair of big channel locks to grab the inner race and rotate it until it would slide off. Shouldn't need a press for anything. Good luck.

 

Thanks a lot BSwith. I bought 2 rear bearing/hubs today and replaced them and man what a difference. I never expected this to be a wear item as I have had many other nissan products with 250k miles + with no problems like these. My right side were grinding very loud when turned off the vehicle by hand like it had small pieces of glass in with the bearings. The outer race was the one with the most evident wear. Courtesy sells these for $94 shipped but I found some locally at an Infiniti dealer for 109+tax with no wait so I had to jump on it and enjoy the I30 again.

Have any other members here had really $hitty help at Nissan dealers parts counters in person or over the phone? Everytime I call a Nissan parts counter the guy gets an attitude, is not very helpful, and makes up a reason why he can't find the part without additional information. However when you talk with an Infiniti counter guy, they are nothing but polite. I guess the Nissan parts guys get paid less or are just more unhappy with their jobs.

 

yep yep if it did not change at all when you bnought new tires than the tires are not the problem. I just had my bearing replaced as well.

 

Glad you were able to get it fixed.