Need help with tire noise on NX

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help with a loud noise from the left-rear tire on my NX 2000. This is what happened:

For some time, I had a slight noise from the left-rear that I thought was a bearing about to go bad. One day while driving at about 60mph or so, the noise very suddenly got very loud and I could smell something hot (maybe burning rubber?). There haven't been any unusual odors since. I had the car looked over by a Nissan dealer and they didn't find anything wrong and said it was just tread wear noise. They insisted it wasn't the bearings or anything else mechanical. I asked if it could be an alignment problem and he said no because the tires were wearing evenly. The noise is very loud even at 25mph and seems to get louder and higher pitched as I go faster.

After I got the car home, I changed the left-rear tire for the spare. The noise went away and I assumed it was something wrong with the tire, so I decided to rotate the tire expecting the noise to move to the front with the tire. The noise is still coming from the rear with a different tire.

Now I'm thinking that it may need alignment and the reason there was no noise with the spare tire is because it is so small and narrow and wouldn't make very much noise unlike the wide tires on the car (185/60-14).

Could a wheel out-of-line cause very loud treadwear noise or could it be something else? Could something about the alignment suddenly slip since the noise suddenly got loud with an odor?

I appreciate any help. Thanks.

[intrepid]

Couldn't be brakes could it? Have you smahed any kerbs latetly, cause that could have damage something or knocked somethign loose in the rear suspension.

Get a mechanic to drive with you, and get an independent review.

Actually, I thought it might be the brakes rubbing but the guys at the dealer said they were fine. Since the noise went away when I had the spare on, I don't know, but it seems to me that it would be something else. I plan on taking it and having it checked somewhere else.

Almost forgot, I haven't hit anything lately. Several years ago, I lost control into a ditch. After which, It was severly out of line and had bad bearings different times. But nothing unusual until lately.

[k2000]

Did you check the bearings ? It's maybe the cause of your problem. Or verefy the link kit, it may be nvery noisy too ^^.

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by k2000

Did you check the bearings ? It's maybe the cause of your problem. Or verefy the link kit, it may be nvery noisy too ^^.

uh, wow.. this thread is almost 3 years old, you should read the rules again.