I'm fairly sure that I need to replace the OSR bearing.

Humming/droning sound started about a thousand miles ago and had recently got louder and louder.

It starts at about 25mph, by 40-50mph it is louder than the engine noise.

It sounds like it comes from that corner. No play in the wheel when rocked in the air.

I replaced the rear suspension a couple of years ago, so quite familiar with that area. However, I've never replaced a wheel bearing.

Does it need pressing out and back in?
Do you just replace the whole hub?

Any tips or guides?

Thanks!

Are you sure it’s a wheel bearing not the diff ?

Yes a press is required.
I have a press, but would still just replace the whole hub, as it's often very difficult to get the old one out, and new one in.
It's just quicker to replace the hub. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
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Jack frost wrote:

Are you sure it’s a wheel bearing not the diff ?

Jack frost wrote:

Are you sure it’s a wheel bearing not the diff ?

I was convinced mine was the diff - took it to Bell Engineering for repair/replace (200 mile round trip) where Austen not only told me it was a wheel bearing but also that he’d pay for the repair if it wasn't

No play in the rear wheels whatsoever and the whine sounded very central from the rear of the car. A new bearing fixed it.

I did almost exactly the same . Confused a NSF wheel bearing for the PTU.
Austen would have replaced the wheel bearing but was out of stock so got it done locally - the central rumbling noise disappeared. Jules

Last edited by jules on 5th Nov 2023 11:13 am. Edited 1 time in total

I have experienced wheel bearing, rear diff and noisy tyres on FL2s and they all sounded the same to me. In fact I booked one into the LR dealers to get the wheel bearing replaced under warranty and they called me and said that they thought it was noisy tyres (Wranglers in this case) so I replaced the two back ones and the noise disappeared. Worth having a good look. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
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As above, I have had diff noises, wheel bearing noises, sticking hand brake shoes and tyre noises. All sounded pretty horrendous. I did the rear bearing myself. Drifted / shattered the old unit off, local tractor garage pressed the new one in FOC, took all of 10 mins to press in.
I have two sets of wheels / tyres. The Landsails on the original 18" wheels are almost silent. The Hankook AT's on 16" wheels make a real racket.
Good luck.

I've got myself slightly confused with the options now.

I've found bearings on their own for £20 or kits like this one for around £100: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403334148939

But from what I can tell the bearing is still separate, so what advantage do I get?

Am I looking at the wrong thing? Can someone guide me through the normal procedure for doing it the easy way?!

I don't mind spending £100 instead of £20 if it makes the job easy, but if I still have to do pretty much the same thing, then it doesn't seem worth it!

For the rear bearings both sides I used a friends press. I put in new Febi bearings, replaced the lower bushes as well, I bought a reasonably priced bush puller for that job . The hub itself I cut the bearing halves off and reused the hub. I also bought two old hubs and refurbished those as well for the future


https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/car-parts/...177-detail



https://www.partsinmotion.co.uk/search?key...egory_id=0


https://www.amazon.co.uk/DR-TOOLS-Bushings...B09GKTGFM5

It may not be the quickest way, but as I was replacing the rear shocks at the same time. This is what I did.
Remove the hub carrier complete and get it on the bench.
Drift the hub out with a suitable sized socket and lump hammer. This left one-half of the inner race on the hub. Cut a slot in the inner race left on the hub with a dremnel or similar tool. Hit the slot with a cold chisel and lump hammer, it should shatter. Wear eye protection.
Remove circlip from the hub carrier and drift out the outer bearing with a suitable socket and lump hammer.
Clean everything up and in my case, took the lot to a local tractor garage who pressed the new bearing in.
The hardest part for me was undoing the drive shaft nut. I did not have a six sided socket to fit, so couldn't use the impact gun. A 1/2" multi sided socket and breaker bar was simply not up to the job. I ended up borrowing a 1" drive six sided socket and a 4 foot breaker bar from my friendly tractor garage, and the nut gave up. Happy days.

I've decided to buy a second hand rear entire hub.

I'll either swap it over and see if the second hand one is good, either way, I can then take the original and cut the old bearing out and get a friend to press the a new one in. There will be no rush then.

Alternatively, I might just fit a new bearing to the second hand one and then fit it.

I was told that a good way to check if its a wheel bearing is to get someone to turn the wheel and you hold the coil spring - the roughness of the bearing is amplified up the spring allowing the noise to be differentiated from a diff bearing as it shouldn't be felt on both sides of the car if its a single wheel bearing. Jules

As expected, it was the wheel bearing.

I swapped over the second hand unit and the noise has gone.

Not much fun doing it on the drive at this time of year, especially in the dark. Ended up taking 3.5 hours to swap over the entire hub. Although 45 minutes of that was spent looking for the breaker bar

Now need to decide if I'm just going to leave it with the second hand unit, or get a new bearing pressed into the original unit.

Personally, I’d get a new bearing fitted, then you’re all set to go should the second hand one get noisy. (Now Sold). 2008 Freelander 2 (Nazca Sand) SE TD4 Auto. Statutory write off & on WOVR for hail damage but still road legal.
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