I have a grinding noise coming from my right back wheel on my 88 toyota pickup. it does this continually while i am in motion.. i do not know whether it is the breaks or the wheel barring. I would really like some imput so i know if i want to tackle this or not

 

Jack it up. Take the wheel off. Remove the brake drum. See if it's the shoes that are worn down to metal/shot. If it's not that, then grab the axle shaft flange and push/pull on it. If it's got any in/out play it's the bearing. Odds are you don't want to tackle replacing the bearing. But if you do there's plenty of info around on the ways to do it.

 

When I have noises like that I tend to work from the outside in. Jack it up, try and rotate the rear tire listen for sound. Try to shake or wiggle the rear tire. By doing this you will get a better idea if it is something scraping your rim and you will be able to see any improper movement. If you get a lot of movement I would say you may be getting ready to loose an axle shaft bearing. Then as stated above me remove the rear tire and check out the drum. Do you have wheel spacers? If so you may want to make sure they are not loose and if they are loc-tite those things on. Could be a number of things but until you get hands on it is hard to say. Lug nuts, wheel spacer, break shoes inside the drums, frozen wheel cylinder, axle bearing.......Make sure you do not have the parking brake on when you try to investigate the rear. It is a habit to brake when you park or jack it up, I know I have forgotten to leave it disengaged.

 

IF it's a bearing & goes on too long, you'll take out all the seals as well....then it'll be leaking, TOO~

 

Well, since he's looking to sell it, that's probably not going to be his problem to deal with(if it should arise). But, that problem, if left too long, will take out a lot more than the seal. And in fact, could become a SERIOUSLY dangerous situation.

Check this out https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...t-ride-113260/

BTW DJ, don't let me scare you away from the task of replacing the bearing. It's really not overly difficult. Many of us have done it without help(other than from the FSM and/or write-ups on the web for guidance). What I meant by that was most people think it's a harder job than it really is. Or that it's somehow beyond their means, when it really isn't. It's not the easiest job in the world mind you. But it's no reason to go selling an otherwise perfectly good truck. And if it's just the brake shoes, that's a piece of cake. Neither problem would be terribly expensive to fix. So I would actually encourage you to fix it, whatever it is, and keep it.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I still have yet to jack it up and look.. I am doing that tomorrow.. I understand getting my hands dirty in order to fix it.. the reason why I am hesitant is because I am wanting to sell the rig... dont get me wrong i love it and i realllyyy dont want to get rid of it. it is by far my favorite automobile i have had... i was jsut recently married though... and my wife and I both dont think it is feasible to keep it and want to start a family. It is just alot to keep up on.. so depending wha tit is will determine if i fix it or not but in the end i am still sellin her