I keep reading conflicting information in regards to wheel bearings....
When I turn left I hear the wheel bearing noise... does this mean that I need to change the drivers side or passenger side bearing??? or should I change both?? New or used?
When you turn left... you move the weight over toward the right wheel... so it's the right wheel bearing that's gone.
You can change 'em both.. but why bother.
John Lenko wrote:When you turn left... you move the weight over toward the right wheel... so it's the right wheel bearing that's gone.
You can change 'em both.. but why bother.
Thats what I thought... but the right wheel is the drivers side wheel right??? Right as in looking at the front of the car?
Here what I do. Jack the car up. Take the wheel by top and bottom abd shake the wheel, if you feel play it's a wheel bearing or tie rod, try both of them. If you have someone do it for you, you can have them do it, an check to see if you see play in the tie rods or wheel bearings. Just make sure your at 180 degrees from top/bottom, left/right. That's how the shop taught me to do a quick check and I find it to be very effective instead of guessing whether it's left or right side.
change both.
i thought it was my drivers side bearing and after changing it still had the horrible noise. after having a short mental break down, I decided to go through with changing the passenger side bearing, and that was the one that was destroyed.
bearings should always be changed in twos. if you're going through them quickly, something else in the front end may be damaged, and is probably something you'd want to look into.
Exactly, which is why you should do the shake down test.
I agree change both. Or if you really only want to do one jack it up and do what they said also in nuetral spin each wheel and see if you feel any roughness. Or hear any noise. mine werent loose but sure were growling awfully bad. Youbneed a t50 or t55 can't remember and a 29mm socket deep well pretty easy to change. And they are around 50 bucks a piece.
I dont like shakedown tests..
Your bearing would have to be awfully bad to hear it rotate roughly at hand turning speed. Also, the top and bottom shimmy trick works best for older style bearings. Your best way to know is the growl you hear when driving.
Replace them both! Not because you have to, but because your gonna end up doing the other in a couple months anyway.
McManus wrote:When I turn left I hear the wheel bearing noise... does this mean that I need to change the drivers side or passenger side bearing???
Passenger side. The hub will make more noise when there is more weight on it.
When you turn left, the weight shifts to the right, loading the bearing up more, and making it operate louder.
McManus wrote: should I change both??
Sure, if you can afford it, a newer, better functioning part in an area as crucial as a wheel bearing can never be a bad idea.
Also takes the guessing out of diagnosing the culprit.
McManus wrote:New or used?
New, I could never imagine reusing a J-hub on a road vehicle.
The pounding, and possible air chiseling needed to remove them, especially where I am in Canada, cannot be good for them...
On a side note: wheel hubs such as ours should have zero play. I have had many bad bearings that showed no play on the shake test, but howled like crazy.
If the shake test yields any results, you let it go way too long or its not the hub.
