Hi all, my 944 (945, I'm Aussie) )is suffering a bit of a problem in
the rear end. There is a rumbling knocking sound that becomes
distinctly audible at about 30kmh and seems to be eminating from the
left side of the rear end, and is consistent with the rate of roll of
the wheels. It gets pretty loud by 100kmh, but doesn't seem to affect
the ride too much. Really don't want to drive it much more while it's
like this...I have read through a number of 944 forums, and it seems
that a lot of people have had a similar problem (related to CV joints
or wheel bearings), except my problem seems to have a couple of
distinct differences:

1. When I put the clutch in, the noise doesn't stop, it continues
whether under power or not.
2. It is not more prominent when cornering.
3. When the mechanic had it up on the hoist, he could not detect the
sound (he had it up to 70kph on the hoist), nor could we personally
hear it when rotating the wheels on a jack with the weight off the axle
and wheels. Seems to be only when weight bearing.
4. Wheel bearings are apparently running fine according to mechanics,
though they mentioned the right hand side bearings are making a little
noise (though not the main noise).

So in summary we're not too sure if it's a CV joint, torque tube,
transaxle or other problem, but would be interested to know what it
might be if you have heard of something similar occuring. Would love a
quote on any parts related to a solution too.

Jamie

p.s. car is running on (what I believe are) 18" Kinesis Supercups with
275/35s on back, not sure if this could be a source of problems but
thought I'd let you know...