I know that one of my hub bearings on my sunfire is gone since the wheels have been howling like crazy past 60 km/h however. Im not quite sure which side is the problem. Whenever I turn the steering wheel to the left while driving above 60km/h the sound goes away but when I turn it to right, the sound gets louder. Would this infer that my right side (passenger side) hub bearing is gone?
How can you inspect these bearings to tell which one is the problem?
I could tell from the direction the sound came from. try rolling down your windows alternately while driving to see if that helps.
also, if the hub/bearing is really going out, you should have some "play" in the wheel. jack the car up, and see if the wheels will move outward/inward.
Desert Tuners
“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”
I'm with Darkstars. The side that the weight transfers to and gets louder is the side that is bad, usually. Jack it up, grab the tire at the 12 and 6 positions and give it a wiggle to be sure.
"The Blue Bullet"
yup. if it sounds like the noise is on the right side, then its the left one that needs to be replaced
Im assuming when you guys say left side, your talking about the drivers side?
i dunno, im just saying the opposite of what you said. if its coming from your passenger side change the drivers side and visa versa
StrippedCav98 (Now Quotable) wrote:i dunno, im just saying the opposite of what you said. if its coming from your passenger side change the drivers side and visa versa
That swrong, completely wrong. If you are turning to the right your transfering all the weight to the left side, and putting alot of force on the left suspension/driveline. Therefore most likely your left wheel bearing is bad, if its making noise when you turn right. At our shop we will also put the car up in the air on a lift and accelerate up to about 40mph and hold the coil spring, alot of times you can actually feel a noticeable vibration on the side that is bad. I wouldn't recommend doing that on jackstands though, only if you have access to a lift. But like I said it sounds like you need a left wheel bearing.
As far as having play, I've seen bad bearings with no play. But I've also seen bearings that have tons of play, but don't make noise. So that could go either way.
Jack the car up, take the wheel off and trun the hub by hand. Also, you can look for discoloration of the hub and lug studs from overheating. You may also want to take a look at your prake pads while you're at it. A failing bearing that is heating up will transfer the heat to the brake rotor and cause premature failure of the brake pad.
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The last bearing that went on me was wobbling all over the place and made zero noise.
This sounds like the left side (driver's side. all the sides are from the driver's point of view sitting in the car).
Turn right -> Louder -> Left bearing.
