1994 940 TURBO. 158KMis.

When on the road I can hear (and think I feel) an ever-worsening bearing noise. It sounds just like what I've heard and felt before when a roller bearing is failing. Trouble is, when I jack up the car and spin the wheels, everything sounds and feels fine, and front wheel bearing thrust is OK (practically nil ... although I've been told that these Volvos have a bearing design that basically self-adjusts, so thrust is NOT a good indicator of a problem ...).

I've inspected the driveline and see nothing out of the ordinary. I changed the fluid and inspected the rear end, and it looks great (other than a particularly putrid odor from the old fluid). I changed out brake pads recently too, but the noise hasn't gone away.

Recently I had the tires rotated and the mechanic told me I'd need some new tires soon. He said that my noise was tread noise from the worn (misshapen) tires. My front tires are wearing unevenly, and the alignment data (camber) is out of spec. I suspect the cause is sagging rear spings (although the camber is out in the positive direction on one side and negative on the other). But I've looked at the tires and they aren't that bad. I've made worse of treaded tires in the days when I was racing (not Volvos). I'm hoping I don't actually have to pull bearings out and inspect them to diagnose this problem. Suggestions?