Bad wheel bearing or 3rd memeber?

Hi all, figured I’d post this here instead of TW.

So here is the run down.
2005 Tundra v6 auto 2wd
Just shy of 362,000 miles
Stock but has a 100 gal fuel cell in the bed that I fill up with diesel.
Rear axle was replaced about 2-3 years ago when a wheel bearing went and ruined the 3rd member with it. My boss had his favored mechanics replace it with a used rear end from a junkyard.

When I drive above 35 mph I hear a wahwahwah sound. I originally thought it was a wheel bearing. I took it to a shop I trust and he also thought it was a rear bearing. Jacked up the rear, put her in gear and drove above 35 mph and no sound, wheel wasn’t shaky either. So we thought huh maybe it was a front bearing. Jacked truck up again, tried to shake the wheels and spun them by hand and again, no apparent signs of bad bearings. So the mechanic but the truck back on the ground and crawled under to check out the driveline. When he came back he said he thinks it’s the rear end going out as he said it has a lot of play it in from the drive shaft.
He said he could totally sell me bearings but he doesn’t think it will fix the problem.

The more I think about this I am not sure it makes sense, so I am looking to see if anyone here has any insight with this information. I am wondering if there is any possibility the bearing isn’t going to act up if the weight of the truck isn’t on it, or when they go bad do they make noise no matter what?


Edit: video of the noise:
https://youtu.be/2HPlPjYpZXw

 

Did you check the ujoints?

 

Tire's ?

 

Rear end problems are usally the pinion bearing and the noise will be more of a whine and change with load on the rear end. wahwahwah sounds like tires. Rub your bare hand over the tire, it should be smooth per-say. If it feels like the treads are lifted and sunk then you have a slipped belt inside. Many mechanics have been fooled buy this and installed wheel bearing.....nope, just tires, that's all it was. Do check the u-joints and the carrier bearing as well. I doubt it's the side axle bearings, but check for play....tire off ground and shake it. Grab it first at 12 and 6, then 3 and 9 o-clock.

 

Wha wha wha sounds exactly like a wheel bearing going bad.

How do I know? Mine started making noise on the drivers rear about six years ago. The noise started in the above 35mph range and would softly roll through the cabin in stereo sound. Never could pin its location down until this summer when after towing the noise went next level! It was unbearably loud and very noticeable from the back drivers side.

Throughout the six years the sound wasn’t very bad. It would lessen when towing/hauling. Sometimes it would lessen for no reason. This summer it was loud no matter what.

Its possible your bosses newer axle had bad bearings in it when it was swapped. Or, mechanics messed up the drive shaft connection. Who knows because we weren’t there?

I read up a lot on bad bearings diagnoses and some of the tricks to identify were not applicable to my truck like turning a speeds from side to side to see if the noise went away. It was always present.

Make sure someone with a press and experience does your bearing if thats the case. I just went through having a lifelong mechanic do mine back in October only to have to take it to a stealership to re-do it last week. The failed mechanic had no press. He hacked the job and it leaked oil everywhere in the drum.

You make the call.

 

Myself personally no, my boss’s mechanic supposedly checked them and said they were fine when it was last in his job about 2,000 miles ago. I will check again

They Are currently wearing good and smooth. The last set of bearings blew up because the mechanic said the bearings are fine it’s the tires. Opps.

The tires seem to wear smoothly. I know the carrier bearing looks bad from the outside and it definitely has play in it. When I check the ujoints I will check out the CB as well. The shop I went to did the wheel shake test on all 4 corners and there was little or no play. He may have only done the 12 and 6 o clock position though.

It’s funny you say this about towing. When the noise first started happening it only happened when turning. Then it happened often, but when I filled up the diesel tank all the way it would go away until I emptied some out. Now it’s doing it all the time. It makes me feel like these bearings act different when they are on the ground under load vs in the air. Of course that is just speculation but last time the bearings blew it had been to a shop multiple times and they blamed tires said the bearings are fine.

I appreciate the advice everyone, I will check out the ujoints and carrier bearing to see how they look.
On a side note I have the 3rd member from my taco that will fit into this truck, only difference is it has 3.73 gears instead of the 3.91.

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing. Notorious on Tundra. With you carrying loads its reduced its service life.

My noise started at 25-30 mph and up to max speeds. A rolling wha wha wha.

When she went next level the speed of noticeable sound dropped to 10-15 mph range and up.

 

https://youtu.be/2HPlPjYpZXw

Here is a short video I took on my way to work. The sound is hard for me to like describe or type, but you can definitely hear it even over the road noise and loud ticks coming from the 1gr.

 

Wheel bearing. Sounds just like mine did!

BTW I did the wheel check at 3-9 o’clock and 12-6 o’clock and no play in the wheel, but my bearing was still bad.

 

I think I am gonna have my buddy do the rear bearings. He is a mechanic and has access to a press on the weekends when the shop is closed.

 

wahwahwah can sound different to each person, but just saying dont rule out tires. Bearings will usually change tone when driving down the road shift left to right changing the load on the bearing. The thing with Toyota bearings, and they do go, been doing this many years and replaced many, mostly because of noise. When I remove them, they do not look bad like a Chevy would. So dont sweat it, it wont just blow apart, unless someone already did something, but do replace it eventually. Also, just because you have no play in the wheel doesn't mean it's not bad, if you have play, well Houston you have a problem.

 

I had this problem for 6 years. Just ignored it because I have this saying, ‘If nobody is dying, bleeding, or gonna die then don’t worry about it’.

Back to my point, I had two sets of Michelin tires during this problem so I ruled that out. Did the play test and ruled that out. Turned the tires by hand and no sound/grinding. Basically, I did all the mechanic tips/tricks/diagnosis. Was still fully uncertain until I took a ride with my mechanic who knew exactly what it was. Too bad he hacked the repair job, but thats another story.

That video TonyBaloni put up was my world for 6 years. I usually don’t go all in on an internet diagnosis, but in this case I’m 99% certain its a wheel bearing.

 

Well that's a good point, but the only one. You, see, my point was all the possibilities. Now I listen to the video, and buddy, you better check your front calipers before one seizes. I'm not ruling out the bearing yet, but I know that sound O so well. Just make sure the front tires spin freely off the ground.

 

A bad wheel bearing and a bad tire can sound very similar. The tire is easy to rule out by simply rotating the tires -- put the fronts on the back and vice versa. If the sound moves/changes, you've found your problem. If it doesn't, you've ruled out a tire problem.

If you're buddy hasn't done Toyota wheel bearings, have him research it beforehand. It's not like swapping bearings on a domestic truck axle.

 

So before I got this truck it started making the same noise. They took it to a couple mechanics, they all blamed the tires because on the lift no noise. Well one day I was driving home it started to sound really bad. Called bossman he said drive it home we need fuel in the machines tomorrow. Before I get home I heard a loud pop/thud. Then a lot of bad sounds. Bearing exploded lol
It got a used rear axle after that.

Front tires spin freely, what makes you say the front calipers are gonna seize?

No kidding. It took us all day to do one side. Abs ring was a total pain in the bum to get off. The tool we have to press the axle out was made for trucks without the abs ring so that complicated things a lot. Should get driverside knocked out today. Fingers crossed no more noise. We drained the rear diff and found this. It’s a little concerning honestly:
Also not sure if the bearing is supposed to have all this grease on the outside but both of them did.

 

Ok guys, bearings are changed and the noise is gone! The grease in the bearings seems to have escaped the seals. The driverside bearing was toast, more so than the passenger side.

 

Keep an eye on your rear wheels for the next couple of days to confirm you're not leaking gear oil. A common error when doing this job for the first time is that the innermost race doesn't allign properly with the seal. If the race is pressed on the axle just a few mms to far, or not far enough, you'll get a leak.

 

Glad to see you got it fixed, but if you said there was grease that came out the bearing in the first place, would of just told you to replace the bearing from the get go. Noise in video was hard to tell if it was front or back. If you hear a noise like that up front, most likely calipers, and that was an issue mostly with 2000-20004.

 

No way to see the grease until the axle is pulled on the 1st Gen Tundra. Once pulled and you see problem you fix it.

Someone should sticky that video noise for future reference. Classic 1st Gen Tundra bad rear wheel bearing sound with no other symptoms present.

 

Like mentioned couldn’t see the grease till the axles came out. I think this thing is still rocking stock calipers w/ 362k. If they go bad I have the take offs from my 2nd gen tacoma which I think are the same.

Thank you, I will keep an eye out! The driverside got put together by someone who does it all the time, pass side my buddy pressed together so I will keep a close eye on it.

If they were gonna sticky makes me wish I took my gopro and recorded a better video lol. It was much louder in person than what my phone captured.

 

I was loud on my end when watching your vid and got progressively louder towards the end. Its a proper video for description.