Could be a wheel bearing, 33k miles is a bit low though.
Luckily it is at the rear so there is not much else to mask the symptoms.
I would suggest you jack up the car off the wheel you suspect, and rotate the wheel by hand. It should spin free (handbrake OFF of course) without any excessive groaning noises.
Try to rock the wheel vigorously up and down, and then from side to side to check for free play or a slight knocking. Free play means new bearing for you.
Finally remove the wheel and turn the hub/disk by hand. Again it should turn with a uniform resistance, there should be no points at which the hub binds or suddenly frees up. You could remove the brake pads just to be sure they are not binding against the disk.
Again to be safe you could check the other side, sometimes sounds travel in mysterious ways through cars. As the bearing is built into the hub, they are expensive IMO to replace. But the rears are an easy DIY.
Best of luck. |