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What Is a Wheel Bearing?
What Is a Wheel Bearing?
A wheel bearing is a set of steel balls held together by a metal ring called a race. They help wheels spin fast with as little friction as possible. They are used on all kinds of vehicles, from bicycles to aircraft and cars. On a car, a wheel bearing rides on a metal axle shaft and fits tightly inside the hub, which is a hollow chunk of metal at the center of the wheel. The hub holds the lug bolts that you use to bolt the tire onto the wheel. The wheel bearing is pressed into the hub from the back
What Does a Bad Wheel Bearing Sound Like?
When bearings are damaged and making noise, it's hard to diagnose because you have to drive the vehicle in order to reproduce the sound. Here are tips to help you find the source of the problem: When the seal on the wheel bearing is broken or damaged, the noise starts out very faint and becomes louder over time. It sounds like the noise that your tires make when hitting a rumble strip on the highway, just not quite as loud, something like the sound of playing cards flapping against bicycle spokes
While driving down the road about 40 mph, sway the car side to side slowly, shifting the weight of the vehicle from one side to the other. Do not drive crazy or cause the car to spin out, just sway it gently. Notice whether the noise gets louder or softer. If the noise is a little less if you turn right, the damaged bearing may be on the left, or vice versa.
Note that tires that are "chopped" or "scalloped" (worn in patches) also make a rhythmic noise that increases in speed. This sounds very similar to a bad wheel bearing. Look at your tires as well if you hear this kind of noise.
Why Do Wheel Bearings Make Noise?
Most wheel bearings are hardened steel and can withstand a lot of abuse. Its two worst enemies are heat and water. Heat caused by lack of lubrication can destroy a wheel bearing. Water that penetrates a sealed bearing will also destroy it.
Most wheel bearings manufactured today are sealed. They come from the factory pressed together as an assembly: front race, bearing set, center race, bearing set, and outer race, with seals on both the front and rear. Seals protect bearings from the elements, water, and debris, and they also seal in the high-temperature grease the bearing needs. When a seal is broken or damaged, the wheel bearing will fail and start making noise.
the Source of Bearing Noise
, if you really want to know whether your noise is a bearing noise and you can get the car up on a lift, you can use an improvised stethoscope (actually a big screwdriver) to listen to the sound and find out where it's coming from. Have someone in the vehicle start it and run it at about 40 mph. Using a long screwdriver or stethoscope, rest it on the hub near each wheel bearing. Careful! Don't let the tool touch a moving part, or it could fly up and hit you. Listen through the handle of the screwdriver (or through the stethoscope) for the noise, and I guarantee you will be able to determine which bearing is bad
Replacing Your Wheel Bearing
Wheel bearings do not fail immediately, and usually give you some time before you need to have them replaced. I suppose if a wheel bearing failed completely it could lock up and prevent the car from moving. Then again, my daughter drove on a noisy bearing for six months and nothing happened except that it got louder and louder.
You shouldn't necessarily have the bearings on both sides replaced. Just because one fails is no reason to think the others are about to; bearings should last a long time.
Replacing one is a bit expensive because of the labor involved. There are a lot of parts to remove and get out of the way before you can get to the wheel bearing,
Check front wheel bearings. Mine made a noise but wheels appeared to be ok. when we checked further we had to change both front wheel bearings. No noise now,
This can be caused by several different things, such as: A bad axle shaft, the differential or transaxle bearings. The ring and pinion drive, wheel bearings etc. Any one of these will cause shaking and noise on deceleration. Check transaxle fluid level, raise vehicle front end and check for slop in the wheel bearings and check for noise while spinning the tire. The wheel bearings will often make noise when lugging down as you put it due to the weight shift to the front wheels. This also applies to the axle shafts and CV joints and the differential.
If grinding noise is heard coming from front side, lift up both the front wheels and rotate the wheels one by one to listen to the sound, if any. If a noise is heard, replace the front wheel bearings as a set.
If the front wheels do not produce any abnormal noise when rotated, lift down the front vehicle. Lock the front wheels with blocks, release the hand brake. lift up the rear wheels and try to listen to the abnormal noise. If the noise is heard, replace the differential bearings and seals. Top up the differential oil to the mark.
YEP BAD WHEEL BEARING WILL MAKE A ROARING LIKE NOISE WHILE IN MOTION.BAD WHEEL COULD PUT DRAG ON WHEEL WHICH CAUSE ABS LIGHT TO COME ON.YOUR WHEEL BEARING HAS THE WHEEL SPEED SENSOR BUILT INTO IT.SO IF WHEEL BEARING BAD THE WHEEL SPEED SENSOR PART OF ABS BRAKE SYSTEM WILL CAUSE ABS LIGHT TO COME ON IF WHEEL BEARING BAD.MAKE SURE FRONT BRAKE PADS INSTALLED CORRECTLY IF NOT. YOU WILL GET TERRIBLE WHEEL NOISE ALSO.
If you have movement from the bearing that you can feel on the wheel, you would have known about the problem long ago from the noise it would have been making. Usually wheel bearing make a growling noise when they are worn. Front wheel bearings usually bullet proof. I have a CorolIa with 250 000 km on the clock with original bearings.If there is movement it is probably coming from one of the other components, anything with a ball joint such as your tie rod end will cause movement when worn. Jack the wheel off the ground and check for up or down movement, could be tie rod end, worn shock and so on. If you move the wheel sideways movement is probably from play in the steering components. Listen for clunks or knocks and home in on those sounds. Anything you change in the front end of your car will throw the steering geometry out and the car will need the wheels to be realigned.
You should definitely pull the front wheel and check the bearings (they are roller bearings, not ball bearings). With the wheel off, you should be able to isolate where the noise is coming from, but I vote for the bearings. Check, replace and/or repack, and adjust properly. If you have noise, you should be able to feel the "play" in the bearings, or see the wear problem on the spindle and bearings. I hope this helps you.
grinding on front wheel is caused by 2 things.
a bad or loose wheel bearing,or worn out brakes, have them both checked
You might also want to check the level of fluid in the power steering
reservoir - low or lack of fluid will also cause a noise (although more of a
whining than a grinding).
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