# Rear Wheel noises -- bad bearings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** noises, prius, toyota, wheels\ **Created:** [December 6, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108 "2021-12-06T19:17:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![itrontz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@itrontz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/itrontz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/1 "2021-12-06T19:17:29Z")
I recently had all brake pads and rotors replaced. When the mechanic took it for a test drive, he said it sounded like the bearings in both rear wheels were bad. I had my wife drive around while I sat in the back seat. There is indeed a rhythmic noise coming from each wheel when it gets above 35 mph, and it gets faster along with the speed of the car. It’s not a growl but it’s definitely noticeable. From the front seats you don’t hear any noise from the front wheels, only the back wheel noises. I jacked up the car a few inches with the car off and in park and on each rear tire there was no play when I tried to tug on the wheel, in neither the 3-9 or 6-12 positions. I also spun the wheels around and heard a slight scraping noise, as well as a little rattling in the passenger side wheel. Sounds like the mechanic is right, but before I take it in for an $800 job, could it be anything else? Could the new brakes be causing any of these noises? The brakes seem to work fine. The car has 75,000 mi. on it. I recorded all the noises but as a new user i can’t upload them… Thanks CT community! ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/e/9/e9e22eb106d22335a586fa8b061f77d466cd1f46.png) ---
**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/2 "2021-12-06T19:18:24Z")
> [@itrontz](#): > > (I recorded all the noises but the forum isn’t letting me upload them bec. I’m a new user.) you could upload them to YouTube then put the link here ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/3 "2021-12-06T19:26:56Z")
Have the rear tires always been on the rear of the car? In other words, have you ever rotated them or replaced them? If not, I’ll bet that is the source of your noise. ---
**Author:** ![itrontz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@itrontz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/itrontz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/4 "2021-12-06T19:50:17Z")
I just had the wheels rotated when the brakes were done and they were rotated regularly before that. Here are the youtube links for the videos of me spinning the wheels. The recordings of the wheel noises while driving are audio files and I can’t upload them to Youtube at the moment. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85VOUydBtzE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKhwCxQtuuw)]([Spinning the passenger side rear wheel-- bad bearings? - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85VOUydBtzE)) ---
**Author:** ![itrontz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@itrontz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/itrontz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/5 "2021-12-06T19:51:22Z")
here’s the driver’s side video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKhwCxQtuuw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKhwCxQtuuw) ---
**Author:** ![weekend-warrior](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/weekend-warrior/32/26122_2.png) [@weekend-warrior](https://community.cartalk.com/u/weekend-warrior)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/6 "2021-12-06T19:59:34Z")
check to make sure the heat shields are not touching the rotors slightly. ---
**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/7 "2021-12-06T20:31:51Z")
@cdaquila can you remove the flags? I’m assuming @itrontz getting flagged for putting links in because he’s a new user (maybe lift the upload restrictions for him too so he can get the audio files uploaded?) ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/8 "2021-12-06T20:43:51Z")
Agree with pyrolord314, unflag the post. Whomever flagged it, please explain, I see nothing wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/9 "2021-12-06T21:14:48Z")
> [@Purebred](#): > > Whomever flagged it, please explain, I see nothing wrong. I think the system may have auto-flagged it because of the links and the OP being a new user. I don’t think it was user flagged ---
**Author:** ![cdaquila](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cdaquila/32/18089_2.png) [@cdaquila](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cdaquila)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/10 "2021-12-06T21:44:09Z")
All cleared out. @pyrolord314 surmised correctly; this was a system flagging frenzy. Sorry for the trouble. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/11 "2021-12-07T00:15:00Z")
The symptoms indeed are consistent w/wheel bearing problems. There’s often no play felt, even though the bearing is bad. The other common cause for these symptoms are tire problems, as noted above. OP might want to disprove the tires as the cause first. As long as there’s nothing visibly wrong with the tires/treads, I expect replacing the wheel bearings will do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![itrontz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@itrontz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/itrontz)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/rear-wheel-noises-bad-bearings/181108/12 "2021-12-07T14:24:56Z")
Thanks @George_San_Jose1. The tires are in good shape. And thanks @cdaquila for clearing my posts