2003 Pontiac Montana Front Wheel Bearings

Left wheel bearing or either CV axle,(left or right) Axles usually make the vibration turn left or right. Bearings will get loader turning. When you turn right, the pressure is on the left side.

Wheel bearings are sealed on this particular GM vehicle. First thing to try is to place the front tires on the back of the vehicle and see if the sound changes. If the sound still comes from the front, have the wheel bearing checked at your local service center. Expect to pay between $200-250 to replace. If you decide to do it yourself, you can find the part for $60 at places like RockAuto.com.

Wheel bearings will generally last around 200K miles before they begin to show signs of failure. If you hit a curb on that side recently, that could cause a premature failure.

One of your CV joints are bad, inspect which CV joint needs to be replaced. Roll your windows down and make tight right and left corners in an empty parking lot slowly and listen for the clicking noise. If it's coming from the passenger side window or the drivers side window, which ever side the noise is coming from is the side that the CV joint has failed and will need to be replaced.
Thank you for using FIxya and replacing the front wheel bearing improperly buy hammering the CV joint out instead of using a wheel bearing puller will cause damage to the CV joint as to what you have described. Good luck and keep us posted.

A Front Wheel Drive Vehicle Can Have Two Types Of Rear Wheel Bearings: Serviceable Bearings, Or Nonserviceable, Sealed Bearings. When Sealed Bearings Fail, The Bolts Holding The Bearing And Hub To The Axel Or Control Arm Must Be Removed. When Installing The New Bearing Assembly, Torque The Bolts To Specifications.Some Manufacturers require The Use Of New Fasteners When Rear Bearings And Hubs Are Replaced.

When A Serviceable Wheel Bearing Is Used, The Bearing Can Be Disassembled And Packed With Grease.It Is Serviced Like A Front Wheel Bearing On A Rear-wheel-Drive-Car.

The front wheel bearings are sealed units, and must be replaced with the entire hub assembly. They do not need periodic cleaning/replacing as they did in the old days, if they are not making noise do not bother with them.

Sometimes you will need special removal tools, depending on the vehicle. I'd suggest only having a mechanic replace them for you.
If you want to check what side is bad, just jack up one front wheel
at a time and grab the wheel with 2 hands and wiggle it up and down
and right to left , to see how much play is there. You will be able to
tell which side is worse, by how much more play one side has over the
other, if just one side is bad.Good luck.

common problem. replace your hub assembly. the bearings are in it. also could be your cv joints. these are the flex point of your front axles.

that would most likely be tires and/or wheel bearing, common thing on these cars, also a way to check if its wheel bearings is to listen when you turn, does it get louder when you turn left or right, if it does it sounds like wheel bearings, run your hand on the tread of the front tires, are they smooth or does it feel jagged? if it feels jagged then you need an alignment. i'd have a shop check the wheel bearings and alignment.

Almost all newer cars the front wheel bearings are a sealed unit. There isn't a way to remove and repack like the old style bearings. More than likely if it gets too bad, you will need to replace the hub assembly.

those are sealed units and are intergrated with the wheel rotor if the bearings are bad they must be replaced and those are dealer only items. labor for each side is about 1 hour for remove and install per side. unfortunately there are no aftermarket parts available just yet. hope this helps