What's That Sound? Rear Wheels '10 Hyundai Accent

if that is accurate, then the warranty was basically a marketing tool, a way to sell more cars than they otherwise would have

Update: replaced the rear hub assemblies, everything is good to go!

So it was wheel bearing noise then? Been there, done that. Good for you for getting your car back to silent operation. Best of luck?

That was definitely the right way to go.

For future reference, it is possible that the shop that last mounted the wheels did so with an impact wrench set to too high a setting. This is a too-common mistake make by Beadbusters being pushed to do their jobs in too short a timeframe, especially if everything they know was taught to them at the shop doing the pushing.

What that does is stretch the last thread out from t he hub such that the lugnuts can be tightened to what seems to be right, but it really is tightened onto the last thread rather than against the hub. Lugnuts installed this way WILL loosen up and even work their way off while driving.

I ALWAYS watch the tire guy to make sure he uses a torque wrench on the lug nut and does so properly. I usually even mention with a big smile ā€œ78 ft-pounds if you would pleaseā€ (my spec). Iā€™ve never had one take the comment in other than a reminder by a paranoid customer. They generally laugh and say ā€œof courseā€.

For the record, I never take my car to a shop that wonā€™t allow me to watch the work. One tire store in my area is designed to prevent the customers from watchingā€¦ so I simply donā€™t go there. I go to another one that actually redesigned their stores with huge glass windows so that customers COULD watch the work. I always look for that feature when I walk into the store.

Yep, it was bearings, and I think the threads for the lugs were a little stripped from over tightening in shops, tooā€“the combination of the two resulted in the difficult to diagnose noise. I used a torque wrench to make sure everything is tightened to spec and got a fresh inspection and everything is working great, got a buyer lined up already. Thanks everyone for your help!