I was rear ended by a truck while my hand brake was up. The truck pushed my car only about 3 feet and the damage was only done to the rear bumper and spoiler. I got them fixed but ever since the accident, I noticed immediately that there is a noise coming from my rear wheels.
Sounds like a vibration cracking sound from the driver side rear wheel. I also noticed that when I put my hand brake on and I jack up the car to remove the wheel, the handbrake is supposed to hold the wheel in place while I unbolt it, right?
When I unbolt it, the torsional force actually moves the wheel easily about 3-4 inches rotationally before the hand brake actually holds the wheel in place.
The sound is most noticeable at low speeds in 2nd gear or neutral around 20-30mph. It is an intermittent sound that happens about twice per day driving 20 miles per day. The noise lasts until I speed up or slow down to 10mph. My exhaust is loud so it is possible that the noise is still there at higher speeds.
A separate noise also happened after accident on the rear right wheel(Passenger side) At random times/speeds under 35mph, the rear wheel starts vibrating A LOT. The entire car shakes and the noise is loud from that rear wheel and I hear a bunch of metal clunking together. This happens about 3 times per week and lasts about 5 seconds.
Mechanics don't see anything wrong visually. I have since then autox'ed the car and tracked it. The suspension and handling feels great on the track. No signs of problems.
I know the noise of a wheel bearing and the noise of bad brakes so I know that is not the problem. I checked the wheel bolts. They are all tight.