eventually a failing rear wheel bearing will leak oil out of the rear brake drum, wheel bearing hum or grind will often get louder and higher pitched with traveling speed,

Diff noises will get louder with traveling speed but will change pitch or sound level if your cruising, coasting or accelerating

these signs are very general, trying to hear noises like these with roof flapping etc can be difficult, probably not the best advise but I used to just turn the radio up till things got worse, eg oil leak, pinion play smoke etc than fix it. it makes for an interesting story to tell. and is a good learning curve.

It is possible that the bearing can collapse before you see an oil leak. Infact the only reasons you WOULD see an oil leak from a bearing related issue, would be from excess heat caused by a failing bearing, or the seal being damged when the bearing starts to collapse, causing the axle to drop and tear the seal. At this point it woud become a job for the towtruck

Everything I post up here is to try help others with there questions. its from my experience over the past 15 yrs of owning and driving Suzukis. Not everything in my experience will you find in a text book nor will many ppl agree with. But its not bullshit!! Its happened many times to me, otherwise I would not be sharing my ideas with others. I've needed a towtruck once in that 15yrs after a rear diff colapsing. I used to do a rear wheel bearing every 2 months when I drove live an idiot in the bush trying to drive thru every bit of mud I could find. I used a guide to myself with wheel bearings, once I could hear the grumble, I had about 4 weeks or say 1000km's to fix it. once the oil was leaking it was time to fix it. never failed me this guide. its not recommended but its reality. I've driven from bowral to St peters with a leaking wheel bearing on the hume with smoke pissing out by the time I was at cambelltown, but by taking it easy I got home and fixed it!

anything is possible. I'm not trying to show ppl that i think I know everything Just simply sharing my experiences to help others. Its getting a bit annoying ppl trying to prove my reality wrong. its to late, its already happened.

I follow the book of hard knocks as well as the text book.
just because I don't have a high post count doesn't mean I'm an idiot.

I tried the wheel movement test and it is tight although i remember hear roaring sound on the freeway(like the sound of muddies) so i think they on the way out