LeVeque

Hi, I have a situation with my mini-van and am having trouble locating a resolution without having to pay shop time for inspection and troubleshooting. I appreciate any and all assistance regarding this problem.

Upon driving home from work the other day, I noticed a slight noise coming from the right rear of the van. I pulled off to a side street and slowed down to about 15 mph, and began turning the van left to right while rolling. During each right turn, the right rear would make a slight humming noise. I pulled off the road to inspect...

The noise sounded to me like a wheel bearing starting to go; I grabbed the top of the right rear tire and gave it a solid inner to outer pull. The result of this ended up being a knocking, like the axle had some inner to outer slop. I checked the left rear in the same manner; again a slight inner to outer slop with a slight (a little less than the right) knocking noise.

The wheels are not loose and the brakes are brand new.

Could this problem be the axle bearings or could this be a problem in the differential?

Again, ANY and ALL assistance is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you.

bertha66

Try jacking up the van to where the wheel is just off the ground and with the body stable use a pry bar to lift up on the tireto see if up get any movement out of the axle. If you do then you should pull the axle and replace the bearing.