Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels

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Thu 12 May 2011 20:34
Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels - Xantiaman

Am looking for advice on the following:

Vauxhall Signum 1.9 diesel (120) 56 plate with 75k on the clock.

I get a drumming sound from the rear of the car, quite faint but noticable, obviously sounds worse if the back seats are down. I think its coming from the rear wheels.

I've just had new front tyres fitted and all 4 wheels aligned (they were quite badly out) the rear tyres, which are originals, have been inspected and whilst tread is low, they are legal with no signs of damage.

I don't hear the drumming on acceleration, catch it when lifting off the throttle, but it is most noticable when doing a constant 60 - 70mph.

All thoughts appreciated. Thanks

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Thu 12 May 2011 23:18
Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels - Peter.N.

Could be a wheel bearing, listen to it when you are cornering, if it gets worse or better that's most likely what it is. Its usually the one on the side that gets louder when the weight gets thrown on to it.

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Fri 13 May 2011 11:36
Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels - davmal
could

Edited by davmal on 13/05/2011 at 11:40

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Fri 13 May 2011 11:46
Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels - davmal

Could be the tyres.

Run your hand over the tread, around the circumference, not across it, and feel for a sawtooth effect. Misalignment causes this type of wear, and causes a thrumming which is speed related and in my experience exaggerated when correctly re aligned.

Alternatively swap the wheels front to back and see if the noise moves. Easily confused with bearing noise - we all expect the worst.

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Fri 17 Jun 2011 14:31
Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels - Xantiaman

Indeed it was the tyres.

I had all four aligned to no avail. But have just had the rear tyres changed and the noise has gone.

Have to say they did well, being the originals, 4.5 years old and racking up 77k, still legal and visually sound. So they didn't owe me anything

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Wed 22 Jun 2011 02:07
Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels - Dynamic Dave

Indeed it was the tyres.

Yep, quite common, and gets the occasional mention on www.vectra-c.com

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Thu 23 Jun 2011 10:20
Vauxhall Signum - Drumming sound from rear wheels - TeeCee

>Yep, quite common

Seems generic to GM vehicles. My Zafira "A" had this, as did a colleagues Zafira "B", a mate's Vectra and his wife's Astra, etc ad nauseaum. With mine, even the Opel garage reckoned it was wheel bearings until they found no play in them on inspection.

Solution seems to be not to fit unidirectional treaded tyres at the rear (i.e. avoid anything with "wavy" or "herringbone" tread patterns).

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