reverse squeak

[bobvilas]

Lately I had been hearing what sounded like e-brake noise in the rear wheel when in reverse only. Today I removed both rear hubs, lightly sanded e-brake and main brake pads, reinstalled, adjusted e-brake shoes and figured I was done. Wrong! No difference at all. So I put the car on stands and ran it in reverse. No noise. Put it on the ground and rotational squeak is there even at very low speed as long as in reverse. If I shift out of reverse and continue rolling backwards, no noise. Lifting e-brake and/or pumping brake pedal makes no difference in pitch of the squeak. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[spidertri]

Does the pitch change relative to speed in reverse?

[bobvilas]

yes, i drove in reverse on a long road today and it does increase with speed.

[1996 328ti]

I had the exact same symptom.
It was my center load bearing.
Changed the flex disc at the same time.

YMMV.

[bobvilas]

Thanks for the idea '96 i will have a look at that today and get back 2 u!

[bobvilas]

I got my center bearing and guibo in the mail this past week and was looking through the pelican article on changing them out. Did you use a pipe wrench to loosen the big nut on the drive shaft? Not a tool I keep around. Just trying to make sure I have everything I need before I start.

[bobvilas]

LOL it has taken me 10 months to get this squeak fixed! I ended up changing out flex disk, center bearing and complete drive shaft. The front U joint was a bit "gravely" feeling so o replaced the entire assembly. No more squeak! Sure seems to accelerate smoother now too. Thanks for the info 1996.