Just recently noticed some kind of noise at highway speed in the rear of the van. I thought perhaps muffler vibration but the muffler and exhaust seem tight. The sound seems to be quite noticeable when sitting in the rear seats at highway speed. As exhaust doesn't seem to be a problem, my next thought was wheel bearing(s).

Can someone help me with a common procedure for isolating it? Would it be useful to jack up the rear and spin the wheel? Is there a road test that can eliminate transmission / wheel bearing issues?

The transmission does seem to shift well with no obvious issues.

 

jack it up and see if there is any play in the wheel (shouldn't move any direction but spin) more than likely bad bearing since not much else back there that can whine

 

I concur. Whine from the rear at highway speeds is typically rear wheel bearings. Bearing whining/buzzing noise changes in frequency & volume with road speed while exhaust depends upon engine load & gear position...fuel pump noise is not speed-dependent and will be muted if tank is full.

Noisy bearings will not necessarily be confirmed by checking for play/clearance. You may get lucky and find a loose one but I have seen terribly noisy bearings with no play whatsoever.

A person with 2 good ears can sit in the back seat and tell you which side the noise is coming from by moving right and left in the bench seat and listening for a while. It is very difficult to tell from the driver's seat & you could guess wrong.

If you buy bearings, don't get generics. Some of them are inferior and will fail in under 30K mi. I'd stick with genuine Chrysler or Timken which can be sourced thru ebay or elsewhere. Timken is typically a reboxed Chrysler part with OEM pentastar symbol.

I changed the noisy rear bearings on my 2001 gen 4 GC at 80K mi with Timken and they are still like new at 230K mi. I put Timkens on the front of my gen 5 too.

 

I will road test it again and see if I can pinpoint a side. In neutral or park, reving the engine up to 3k or so does not reproduce the noise. The noise only occurs when the vehicle is moving.

If it does happen to be one or more wheel bearings, is there an easy way as opposed to a hard way of breaking the bearing free?

 

gen 4 disc brake bearings are usually not easy due to rust and design. Watch youtube videos about it.

 

Does the bearing have to be removed or can the entire hub just be replaced with the bearing included?

 

the youtube video shows everything.

 

Local dealer wants $230 for the hub/bearing assembly.

RockAuto lists a variety, all for $115 and less. The SKF bearing for $115 (van is actually a 2007 GC 3.8) claims a 3yr / 45k warranty.

Local NAPA only has the economy bearing for about the same price but it only has a 1yr / 12k warranty.

I like RockAuto and they have a Timken assembly but it only shows as a 1yr warranty. So I'm leaning towards the SKF unless you guys know of a better bearing.

 

the skf is fine, I don't care for rockauto (not patient enough to wait) funny the autozone timken has a 3 yr warranty but is outrageous (their one year is $101)

 

Never buy bearings based upon warranty coverage. It provides absolutely no reflection on quality or lifespan. no-name white box generics carry the strongest warranties now. But rework labor, safety and reliability is what you need to be concernd about.

Trying to get warranty replacement on asian parts sold over the interent is too challenging, downtime kills you and freight charges (customer pays both ways) make it a waste of time (cost prohibitive).

SKF is a decent brand, but I'd choose timken because they still have the #1 reputation. I have well over 100K mi on mine.

Absolutely do NOT buy Autozone's house brand bearings with the 3 yr warranty. The word is out across the internet...they suk & wise folks avoid them. Figure a lifespan of 25K miles, assuming they hold up for the first month. They are made from soft metal and get noisy quick.