Check for heat at the wheel hubs, if one is getting quite hot it could get worse much sooner than later. If hubs are not too hot and no serious play at hub a bearing can be noisy for quite a long time before collapsing. Swerving side to side (on a very clear road and not a silly speed) shows up more or less noise as you load a wheel bearing if its on its way out. Constant noise tyres or drive train.

You cant really inspect inside the diff and haldex etc so again heat, play and oil levels. It would have to be a very serious noise to stop me going that sort of distance once I ruled out any lack of oil associated with no play and heat.

That said recovery insurance may help. Good luck. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Thanks for the reply, Yorky Bob. Much appreciated.

I tried the "swerve" idea (empty roads are rather easy to find in the Canadian Prairies!) and noticed that the noise goes away completely when I swerve to the left. Thanks to you and Steve D for suggesting this!!

That would mean that the left wheel bearing is faulty? I touched both wheel bearings after a 15 min drive that included some cornering and a stretch on the highway at 100km/h, and the wheel hub on the left was a bit hotter than the one on the right. Hot enough to warm my fingers but not warm enough to make me have to remove my hand - i.e. I could keep my hand on it constantly and it wasn't burning hot.

Next step will be to jack the car up and see if there is any play... With the car sitting on all fours I can't find any play.

I'm a bit thorn by this - had a trip planned and I do have recovery insurance, but I don't want to risk damaging other components on the vehicle.

If anyone has any feedback / suggestions, as always, it will be much appreciated!

Cheers

you have found the fault,i would change bearing asap.

Yeah... Agreed.

I'll make a call to the dealer first thing tomorrow.

It was indeed the left rear wheel bearing that was going. Getting replaced tomorrow. As annoying as getting a vehicle repaired is, it's quite satisfying to know that the diagnostic made with the help of my intuition and forum members' expertise turned out to be spot on. Thanks again!

Managed to bus to my destination (Banff). The issue meant I couldn't bring my mountain bike, but plenty of other things to do there, so it turned out alright!

Pics of the trip and vehicle are on my Instagram (the_canadian_freelander) in case anyone is curious!

Cheers

Nice pics and good to see a Freelander working hard for its upkeep.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Thanks mate!