Wheel bearings are not a big deal but if you are changing the rear differential bearings and the pinion bearings the process is VERY unforgiving. This is one of the jobs you really should have someone that done it 100 times looking over you shoulder. It is probably the most screwed up DIY job with the possible expectation of rebuilding automatic transmissions. If you get it wrong you can put bad wear patterns in everything and it becomes a complete do over with all new parts. I lost count of how many redos I saw when I was a mechanic. My favorite was when professional screw it up and then tell their customers that the whining will go away after it breaks in. Like a new car sounds like that

 

Well I took it to a shop that does differential and axle work and the owner took the car for a test drive. He told me that since the car has disc rear brakes to check the brakes out completely first because if something is amiss with the brakes or emergency brakes it could create a constant noise something like a bearing noise. He said if all the brakes check out then look at the axle bearings and the differential bearings last. One thing I noticed today was that if I go down the road at low speed and slalom the car left and right, when I swerve to the left the noise seems to stop but does not on the swerve to the right. I have an actual GM 1992 Caprice service manual which covers the 7.5"; axle and did not see anything in the diagnosis sections on axle bearing noise during swerving the car though. So that is where I am at. Hopefully tomorrow I will find time to take the rear brakes apart and see if something is wrong with the discs or emergency brakes, and I will spin each wheel and see if I can find any wheel bearing noise. Thank-you for the input everyone, every bit helps.

 

Might be an axle bearing in that case, honestly.

 

go here and download the factory manual for your year or closest to your year. https://www.mediafire.com/?40mfgeoe4ctti

 

This is the best test for wheel bearings. The side carrying the weight when its the loudest is the bad bearing. If GM does not have it in the manual it is because it is assumed knowledge. GM manuals are written for GM techs.

 

Right. It is very, very hard to find any trustworthy or competent mechanic anywhere, which is why I have always done all my own work on my automobiles. The mechanic that took the car for a test-drive did not slalom the vehicle or go around any curves during the test, I had to think of it and do it myself on the way home. To his credit he did tell me to take apart the rear brakes and check them before blaming the noise on bearings, process of elimination. So today I am going to do just that, get the rear brakes apart and make sure I can cross them off the list before going further.

 

A few days ago I bought a 95' Z/28 with 64K,,,,,,,,, thats a nice car got hear a bit late excuse me if i miss something. low miles i bought mine in 2007 with 69k ,like said you should be ok with fluid change ,make sure you put the 4 fl oz of limited slip supplement with the gear oil ,i did that when i first got mine with 69k an now mine has been modified,but i enjoyed the lt1,as well as i got a new front end look to 98 to 02 ss clone ,if its not the light purple ,it should look like this the pic below , cyclomen is the trade color name. plum or dark purple 10 years later 2 engines an 2 front ends still love it, the first 7 years needed bearly nothing an paid for itself ,an the rear end is still hanging in there even with 100 + more hp an even more torq in the 406,if someone changed it an did not put the suppplement in there that would not be good ,mine is do for another change ,though a rebuild is in the plans to 3.23,if it turns out to be a wheel bearings that not as hard as rebuilding a rear end ,in my garage there are a few stock pictures of my 95,an a bone stock 95 z28 is still very powerful,post some picture of yours,dont see many this color anymore,i have seen one in 10 years around hear .they came back with the color in 2015,

 

I added photos of the car at the beginning of the thread after taking them on this cloudy morning.
I put new brake-pads all the way around the car and new rear rotors on Saturday. The pads were all worn down very thin and the rear rotors were the originals to the car and had ridges on the edges made by the pads wearing into them. Brakes definitely work better now, I do think I need to have the front rotors turned though as there is some slight pulsing on hard braking. The noise from the rear seems to be down some with the new brake parts.

The tires on the car are definitely noisy too, I can hear their tread when slowing to a stop.

I ordered a new transmission oil-pan from Summit that has a drain-plug so I can change the tranny fluid without dropping the pan every time. It is black-powder-coated and from Summit, it was twenty bucks plus seven for shipping and was delivered in less than 24-hours after placing the order online.

The oil on the car got changed last Friday, I put Mobil 1 in it with as big a filter as I could find at the parts store. The counter tried to sell me a very short filter, but I went back to the rack and opened boxes until I found one that was over an inch longer.

Yesterday afternoon the SOB would not start. The Wal-Mart battery a past owner put in the car ****-the-bed, another $150 down the tubes....

I think this car is perfect just as it was made. It is fast enough for me because I am not into drag-racing and beating on the machinery, I am happy with a car that can briskly and easily roll up over 100mph and hang onto the pavement in turns very well. I would call this a GT automobile for Grand Touring. It will go as fast as is practical and is very responsive and handles great.

My old 92' 305cid Caprice Classic would cruise along at 100mph easy enough and it was good around turns too, but of course the 95' Z28 is even better with just a bit of a compromise in ride quality and maybe the cops will pay much more attention?

I found another mechanic that is an F-body enthusiast locally and I am going to try to take him for a ride so his educated ear might tell me if any noises are normal or not. He really was impressed with how clean the car was when he looked at it and said if I ever wanted to sell it he would buy it for his collection. He said it was definitely a garage-queen because the dash is not cracked at all, the paint is all original and not faded and underneath looked like it never saw rain or a dirt road. He gave me a couple push-pin plastic fasteners to put under the front bumper-nose which were missing and possibly letting the bottom of the nose fall down a bit and block airflow to the radiator.

That is about all for now, I will post another update as maintenance, tuning and discovery continue....

 

They're very noisy cars. They have no sound dampening material other than the carpet inside the cabin, and all of the panels are plastic on plastic. This is what gives it the infamous 'camaro squeaks and rattles', and is the answer to why you can hear so much road noise.

When I replaced my carpet, I went with additional mass-backing from StockInteriors (link there), and it's helped a little bit. However, if I could do it again I'd still get even more additional sound dampening from those specialized sheets and do the whole floor pan from the firewall back to the hatch area. I had to cut a lot, but the carpet fits well once trimmed up.

I'm normally all for suggesting someone tackle it themselves, but after doing this job myself I cannot recommend it enough to take it to a professional for install.

If you ever get squeaks or rattles, velcro and high density foam from your local Jo-Ann fabric store (or equivalent) can solve any of that.

 

[QUOTE=gben;720096]Hi all, brings me back though mine is not leather ,i have thought about leather seats ,i had to get the shiny wheels right away ,if you do nothing else thats one thing that makes people turn heads are the zr1 wheels ,? i wonder if the pin stripe was an option or aftermarket mine did no have that yup you got the cyclamen ,what a name for dark purple Nice car