Towed my son's 20-foot boat on a braked trailer up from Chichester to South London last October. Weights were on the limit.

A month or two later I noticed a droning noise coming from the rear.

10 months later, it doesn't seem to have gotten worse but it's there above 20mph

I don't know if the noise is related to towing (wasn't in 4WD).

Is it the diff - or the wheel bearings?

MY Freelander 2 has covered 122,000 miles.

Any ideas or appreciated. Previous

2008 Freelander 2 i6
1997 Range Rover p38 4.6 V8
2003 Range Rover L322 4.4V8
1989 Range Rover Classic 3.9 V8
2003 Land Rover 90 Td5
2000 Range Rover p38 2.5dHSE
1975 Land Rover 90 SIII 2.25 petrol
1996 Range Rover p38 4.0 V8
1990 Discovery 3.5i V8 (3 door)
1973 Range Rover Classic 3.5 V8 (2 door, ex-Police)

I'm confused, how was it not in 4WD?

Check wheel bearings by lifting a wheel in turn, then spin them while holding the middle of the spring. Often a failing bearing can be felt vibrating the spring. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

Does he mean it was in normal driving mode during towing (ie FWD with 4WD when necessary, as opposed to a special off-road setting when Haldex is locked).

The noise could be rear diff, wheel bearing, Haldex or even tyres. Needs further investigation I feel. Jules

Nodge68 and Jules,

Thanks for your replies. The car was in normal highway drive, (FWD with AWD when needed) Previous

2008 Freelander 2 i6
1997 Range Rover p38 4.6 V8
2003 Range Rover L322 4.4V8
1989 Range Rover Classic 3.9 V8
2003 Land Rover 90 Td5
2000 Range Rover p38 2.5dHSE
1975 Land Rover 90 SIII 2.25 petrol
1996 Range Rover p38 4.0 V8
1990 Discovery 3.5i V8 (3 door)
1973 Range Rover Classic 3.5 V8 (2 door, ex-Police)

btw: Tyres are 2.5 years old and have covered 19,000 miles and have good tread depth Previous

2008 Freelander 2 i6
1997 Range Rover p38 4.6 V8
2003 Range Rover L322 4.4V8
1989 Range Rover Classic 3.9 V8
2003 Land Rover 90 Td5
2000 Range Rover p38 2.5dHSE
1975 Land Rover 90 SIII 2.25 petrol
1996 Range Rover p38 4.0 V8
1990 Discovery 3.5i V8 (3 door)
1973 Range Rover Classic 3.5 V8 (2 door, ex-Police)

At 122k miles No 1 suspect would be diff if? no history of it being changed. 2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

I would prepare yourself for the cost of a Diff, you may be lucky and it's Tyres or a Wheel Bearing, but I doubt it.

My Wonky Diff started off as a low drone noise, and then quite suddenly became louder (above about 20mph) and sounded like 2 misaligned gears grinding into each other.

I think Wheel Bearings just drone away for ever, as do old, hard Tyres.

I had the AA out on my failure and he checked for Bearing vibration, like Nodge says above, although the drag from the Diff makes it hard to get enough spin by hand. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

I had this on my 2009 manual diesel. It chopped the tyres up rapidly, drive locked up on right lock, caused by a seized handbrake cable it seems. expensive fix of new rear diff., and a new front angle box. I found out also that the engine was not original, and the car had been clocked as well.

Have you swapped tyres left to right. As the sipes wear tyres get noisier, you get a bit of a second life with quietness swapping left to right. The rear tyres are a bit painful. Stuffing the car with acoustic insulation helps a lot, especially the rear doors. Even AT tyres are then very quiet.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic33026.html

Additional acoustic insulation really does make a huge difference. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Jagracer wrote:

I had this on my 2009 manual diesel. It chopped the tyres up rapidly, drive locked up on right lock, caused by a seized handbrake cable it seems. expensive fix of new rear diff., and a new front angle box. I found out also that the engine was not original, and the car had been clocked as well.

Hi Jagracer,

That sounds exciting! When you say 'chopped the tyres' do you mean they wore erratically, or they had lumps knocked out of them?

Sorry you've had a bad experience! Thanks for your reply. Previous

2008 Freelander 2 i6
1997 Range Rover p38 4.6 V8
2003 Range Rover L322 4.4V8
1989 Range Rover Classic 3.9 V8
2003 Land Rover 90 Td5
2000 Range Rover p38 2.5dHSE
1975 Land Rover 90 SIII 2.25 petrol
1996 Range Rover p38 4.0 V8
1990 Discovery 3.5i V8 (3 door)
1973 Range Rover Classic 3.5 V8 (2 door, ex-Police)

Lightwater wrote:

Have you swapped tyres left to right. As the sipes wear tyres get noisier, you get a bit of a second life with quietness swapping left to right. The rear tyres are a bit painful.