Tire Roar

[88Adventurer]

I have a 88 Festiva, putting it in right order as time and $ allow. When accelerating, it sounds kind of like a 4 wheel drive with big tires. But after 63 mph the back wheel/tire area sounds so loud you can't hardly hear to talk. Could it be the wheel bearings needing need grease? If so, is it hard to get to? Or something else? Thanks for the help.

[Gforcefd]

Don't know if this is your first festiva, but they are known for their rediculous amount of road noise, also does the car have winter tread on the tires? It could be the wheel bearings though, give us more info

[88Adventurer]

Howdy. It's my second, had a 92 until it met someone cutting in front of me. The tires are Wal Mart Douglas? all season tires. Just regular tread. I've been watching the speedometer and it's not until it goes past 63 mph that it gets so loud. This car had not been taken care of when I got it, plenty of sludge in the oil. I'm wondering if the bearings had ever been greased since it came off the production line. I love these cars and want to get this one in shape to keep it for many more years. If it is the bearings are they hard to get to? The Haynes manual doesn't make it look too bad. Thanks for the help.

[mattswabb]

If it is the bearings they difficult to change. You have to have the correct amount of shims installed when they go back together. You may get lucky and they may be exactly the same size and work fine but then they may wear out every few thousand miles.

[mechanicaldj]

If it is the bearings they difficult to change. You have to have the correct amount of shims installed when they go back together. You may get lucky and they may be exactly the same size and work fine but then they may wear out every few thousand miles.

i think he was talking about the rear wheels :roll:

[mattswabb]

ops:


rears are easy to change

[miami man]

mine made a roar but the tear tires were cupped by the lack of rotation of the tires.

[88Adventurer]

The tire wear seems fine, pressure is around 31 pounds. May take the bearings out and see how dry they are. Thanks for the replies.

[freshtiva]

My bet is on the rear wheel bearing. Don't let it go and ruin the rear wheel spindle. It is difficult to change.

[Pu241]

The tire wear seems fine, pressure is around 31 pounds. May take the bearings out and see how dry they are. Thanks for the replies.

88Adventurer,

DO NOT TAKE THE BEARING OUT!

Till you have a replacement!
I've had the same problem!
Thought it was the tires, replace them still had the noise (your ears are roaring by the time you get to work?).
Pulled the pass. side rear drum bearing assembly out! The outer bearing came out in multiple pieces and you don't want to put that back in even if you could.
By this time grease isn't going to help!
If it helps replace one side and drive it around a few miles it will be very obvious you found the problem!
when you get both back bearing replaced it will almost sound quiet!
You also notice it was louder than you thought at lower speeds and you'll start to hear other sounds you could never hear over the sound of the bearings.
Freshtiva make a good point, check the spindles before putting new bearing on, if they're bad your new bearing aren't going to last very long.
FMS did/does have new spindles but they aren't cheap, but they do have the cotter pin and castellated nut vs the crush nut!

Good luck!

Pu241

[freshtiva]

Pu241 wrote:

"Freshtiva makes a good point"

Man, that's something you don't hear very often. :lol:

[Pu241]

you know what they say:

"A malfunctioning analog chronometer is correct a pair of times in a Earth rotational period"

or something to that effect!

Pu241

[88Adventurer]

PU241

If it is the spindles, would it be safe to get some off another Festiva? The guy that replaced my head and gasket has like 17 Festivas in his junkyard.

[mechanicaldj]

The guy that replaced my head and gasket has like 17 Festivas in his junkyard.

where are you located?

[88Adventurer]

I am in Southeastern Ohio, Athens.