Ok thanks for the diagnosis. Can it be determined how much it would cost to replace wheel bearings in my area (Knoxville, TN)? Should it be inexpensive? Thanks.

Anytime I suspect a bad wheel bearing I jack up the suspected corner of the car and try to wiggle the wheel while watching for play in the hub area. Just the wheel moving could be a sign of a bad ball joint or tie rod end, but if it’s moving in the hub area it’s the wheel bearing. If you have an infrared thermometer check the temperature of the wheels after driving a few miles. If a wheel bearing is bad usually there will be a significant amount of heat transfer to the wheel. If you check the temperature by hand be careful, I’ve seen wheels get extremely hot from a bad wheel bearing. I actually saw the hub and wheel on my father in laws truck smoking from the heat of bad bearing one time and the lug nuts were so hot I couldn’t touch them.

Yes, that would be the problem. In all likelihood, that joint needs repairing/replacing. Common repairs often fail (seems to be the consensus from this thread), and since you’re now feeling a humming, that implies there’s some damage to the joint itself. Your best bet, at this point, is to replace the axle with a new or rebuilt unit. Again, the consensus here is that rebuilt shafts don’t work all that well, nor last that long.

Grease is a thickened oil and always consists of two different components: oil and a thickener. The oil is the actual lubricant, while the thickener ensures that the oil remains in place.

Some industries require a different approach, and that's why Groeneveld-BEKA has developed some special lubrication systems to suit those needs.

One is to jack the vehicle up so that tire is off the ground. Grab the tire at the 12:00 and 6:00 oclock positions and try rocking the top and bottom of the tire in and out to check for play in the bearing. If the tire rocks that bearing is worn.

I can confirm for you that a bad CV joint can manifest itself as a 'buzz saw" vibration in the steering wheel. As can other things.

I’m not sure who it was (Caddyman? Keith? Someone else?) who had a link for replacement shafts that aren’t much more than rebuilds, but seem to be much more reliable. Hopefully they’ll pop on soon and post the link for you.

Lubrication is vital to machine components like bearings, pins, bushings, gears or chains. They all need lubrication for your equipment to perform in the most optimal way. Whether you are looking for lubricants, automatic lubrication systems or solutions for specific industries, we offer the solution that helps you to keep your industry in motion.

Just to let you know, I’ve worked on cars for over 20 years, and most of the problems I encounter are determined more by feel than by sound. While I can hear problems in cars as they are pulled up, determining the cause of the sound almost always comes down to feeling for the problem. If you are unable to determine the cause of the vibration yourself, please let a mechanic look it over for you. The feeling your describing appears to be coming from the wheel/hub/suspension components none the less, and a failed component in this area is very dangerous and can lead to loss of control.

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For all situations in which moving parts need to be separated from each other by means of a film of grease. Groeneveld lubrication systems are most frequently used for wheel loaders, excavators, trucks, trailers, buses, port equipment, mining machines, forestry equipment and agricultural equipment.

In a multi-line system, grease is led directly from the injectors in a pump through their own pipes to a lubrication point.

With a single-line system a central pump unit delivers lubricant to a metering device through one singe line. Each metering device serves only one lubrication point with a precise amount of oil or grease.

Progressive systems provide the various lubrication points with grease by means of progressive divider blocks. Progressive means that all lubricating points, each in turn, are provided with grease.

Another way to check for a worn bearing is with the tire off the ground, place your hand on the strut spring. Now slowly rotate the tire. If the bearing worn, the roughness of the bearing will be transfered into the strut spring where it can be felt.

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I have a question…I have a '03 Toyota Camry with 4 cyl and auto trans. This has 118k miles. I’m wanting to know what symptoms bad wheel bearings will give. Why? I am Deaf and obviously can’t hear. I know there’s a way to test for bad wheel bearings by wheel but I’m wanting to know if can do it by feeling? Whenever I’m driving between 40-50 mph, I get a very fine humming feel on my steering wheel. I can sense if there is a wheel out of balance but this doesn’t feel like it…my steering wheel feels like a vibrating sander, you know? Just wondering if that means bad wheel bearings or something else? Thanks!

The best way to test for a bad bearing is to jack up the wheel from the suspected axle side and do a manual feel test. If the properly mounted wheel can be wiggled up and down and side to side, this is a sure sign the wheel bearing has failed. If the wheel bearing is simply worn, but holding, the wheel should be removed, the brake pads removed, and the axle spun by hand. A good wheel bearing with allow the axle to spin smoothly with some small amount of resistance. If you feel any roughness in the spinning motion, the wheel bearing is probably bad.

An abnormality in tire tread wear can also mimic a worn wheel bearing and this is easily checked. I assume this has been done. Another possibility could be a failed motor mount which could set up a quirky vibration. (Check the dog bone mount under the hood on the passenger side top. That’s the most common failure and easily fixed if a problem.)

In a multi-line system, grease is led directly from the injectors in a pump through their own pipes to a lubrication point.

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Roaring is usually a sign of a bad wheel bearing and as it get worse will usually turn into a popping or grinding noise, at this point they’re usually on their last few miles.

Roaring is usually a sign of a faulty wheel bearing, not a CV joint. If this turns out to be a wheel bearing I would suggest replacing both sides if possible

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For what it’s worth, I’ve had bad hearing for decades for a variety of reasons and as a mechanic I’ve had to focus more on attuning myself to the feel of a problem rather than the audible end of things. So yes, you can determine many faults by feel instead of with the ears.

A dual-line system is comparable to the single line system, except that this system has two primary lines that are used alternately to pressurise and depressurise.

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Reducing customers’ operational costs and at the same time increasing uptime, productivity, efficiency and safety of their vehicles and machines. That is what it’s all about at Groeneveld-BEKA.

Failed wheel bearings do indeed make noise, can sound like snow tires at high speed…As Knuckles said, you can jack up the wheels one at a time and FEEL & LOOK for play in the wheels…

Having now heard that it’s producing a “roaring” sound, I too think it sounds like a bearing. However, you know you need half-shafts anyway, so I’d do those first and see how it feels.

The BEKA PFP-1U is a versatile pneumatic barrel pump which offers all features needed to run a machine without unplanned downtime.

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Progressive systems. All lubrication points are consecutively lubricated with the predetermined amount of grease. Parallel systems. All lubrication points are administered the predetermined amount of grease at the same time.

Oil and air lubrication is the perfect solution to lubricate bearings, especially high speed bearings. Additional fields of application include chains, gear trains and other industrial applications.

We offer different single-line lubrication systems, suitable for lubrication with the use of oil or grease up to NLGI-2 class.

The bottom line is that you’ve searched properly for the source of the vibration, you’ve found that you need new half-shafts, so go ahead and fix that first, then see how it feels.

Twin dual-line systems are used all over the world on the most demanding applications including mining, container handling systems and recycling plant machines. Twin is available with reservoirs up to 8 liters and the Twin XL features an 18 liter reservoir.

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I asked my younger brother who was in town for business to drive my car tonight to see if it was making any noise. Sure enough it was. My brother said it was roaring loudly from the front end driving from 25 MPH to highway speed. More scary now since I can’t hear that and not know if it will break on me… I think this is more definite confirmation the CV axles are about to disintergate on me so I will have them replaced this week and post back on if it was the culprit.

I’d go ahead and replace the half shaft that has the torn boot. It’s likely the CV joint is damaged from lack of grease and dirt and water getting to it.

Automatic lubrication involves pumping the grease from the reservoir of the lubrication system to the lubrication points. The quantity of grease per lubrication point and the interval can both be set in advance.

If the right CV joint is bad, I will go ahead and replace the left one too since it probably isn’t far behind. I just would like confirmation that a bad CV joint can cause all this? Thanks for your advice!

Contains a range of gear pumps used to supply oil or oil-like lubricants that have sufficient lubrication characteristics.

Oil and air lubrication is the perfect solution to lubricate bearings, especially high speed bearings. Additional fields of application include chains, gear trains and other industrial applications.

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The application of a film of grease between moving parts in a machine or vehicle. The film of grease prevents any metallic contact between moving parts, like pins and bushings, bearings and steering knuckles. It also stops dirt, water and dust entering the lubrication point and prevents corrosion. Inadequate lubrication causes wear and tear, machine and vehicle failure and increases costs.

Effective lubrication is key to improve efficiency. Some industries require a different approach, and that's why Groeneveld-BEKA has developed some special lubrication systems to suit those needs.

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Twin systems are used all over the world on the most demanding applications including mining, container handling systems and recycling plant machines. Twin is available with reservoirs up to 8 liters and the Twin XL features an 18 liter reservoir.

The feelings you describe certainly seems like a wheel bearing. However, worn-out brakes can also cause this feeling. Worn-out brakes typically feel worse when braking-however. If the feeling only seems to get worse when turning, I think you are on the correct track in assuming a bad bearing.

Many folks misdaignose problems as tire related when they are actually bearing and CV joint related. I think Busted is right - especially about not waiting to get this looked at.

Ok now…I jacked up the front of the car and did the “12:00 and 6:00” method. Both wheels are tight and snug. I did the hot wheel temperature and both wheels are cool to the touch. With that, I could have ruled out wheel bearings. Now I decided to take a look under the right front corner. And I found the CV joint boot had thrown grease from the boot all over. I think the CV joint is the culprit. Could a bad CV joint cause all this vibration and humming sound?