>>the noisey side is normally the one that the weight is thrown on to.
Not always! That theory cost two wheel bearings recently.
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I had a problem with a noisy bearing several years ago. My local garage could not pin -point which wheel it was, even after doing all the tests above.
I eventually solved it by feeling the discs after a run. The hottest one was the guilty party. Be careful,they can get very hot. This was a car with all wheel discs,but it will probably work with drums just as well.
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It can be very hard to detect which side is noisy, on some front wheel drive cars the bearing gets noisier when the load is taken OFF the bearing. The rear is much easier, jack the car up and spin the wheels by hand and and you can usually feel/hear which one it is. Just check your tyres first, sometimes when they get low on tread they can transmit a lot more road noise, worth a look first.
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Yes agree it's difficult to pin point which one however, have somebody sit in the rear radio off and listen for the noise even put rear seats down driver carefully! you should hear the hum.
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Well I can only say that in my experience is been the one with the weight on - perhaps I've just been lucky.
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It shouldn't be too difficult to identify which wheel it is. I've never found it so. But I agree with those who say the wheel with the most weight on it when the noise comes isn't necessarily the damaged bearing one. The noise may or may not increase with cornering force acting on it. If it does, it is caused by damage on one side of the bearing race in either wheel, rather than damage in the centre of the race. But it doesn't tell you which wheel it is. You have to listen, or get someone else to listen, closely for that when on the move. As I say, I have never found that a problem.
Changing bearings though without doing any new damage, that can be work, for an amateur.
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I replaced three rear wheel bearings during the last few years of owning my Focus (rear drums).
In every case, the faulty bearing could be identified by the increase in noise when the weight was thrown on to it whilst cornerning and the decrease in noise when the weight was lifted off it.
In my experience, this was actually a better indicator than feeling for any play in the wheels when jacked up, because there wasn't any !
As mentioned above, removing the rear wheel bearings can be a nightmare on this car. I tried for hours the first time without success, so ended up taking the hub/drum down to a friendly local mechanic who pressed the old bearing out and the new bearing in with a machine for a tenner in a matter of minutes.
Even if it's only one bearing that's gone, my advice would be to change both sides at once. I only changed one and then had the hassle again of changing the other one within 12 months. I also ended up buying a Ford bearing the third time, as the UniPart bearing I fitted only lasted 18 months/15k miles.
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