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Some friends approached him about starting a website, and he snatched up the domain WTFMagazine.com. The acronym, they decided, would stand not for What The F--- but Where’s The Fun, and the site would be a home for original, entertaining content. Fyk likens his business to College Humor.

To read more about Fyk's challenges with Facebook and building his business, check out: The Dark Side Of Facebook, Where People Lie, Steal And Make Millions >>

Fyk formed an LLC on Sept. 10, 2010, and launched the website in January 2011. “It was just fun, goofy, stupid stuff,” he said. His Facebook pages and websites publish the same kind of content today.

Fyk now owns about 40 Facebook pages and controls more than 28 million "likes" in total. The pages reach 260 million people on Facebook and the "distribution" list sends his website tens of millions of pageviews a month. This earns him multiple millions a year in advertising revenue, which he pairs with other businesses, such as social-media consulting. He employs 16 people and has a ghostwriter working on a memoir.

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If one or more of your wheel bearings is damaged, installed correctly or not properly maintained, it can lead to serious safety concerns and will impact everything from handling to fuel economy. A failing wheel bearing means one of your wheels isn't rotating as freely as it should and this is not a good thing. To use another analogy, just think of that shopping cart you seem to get every time you go to the grocery store. There is always one wheel that is locked up and really annoying! Now imagine how bad that is for a 2-ton car or truck to be driving on a bad wheel.

"I couldn’t just go get a job at McDonald’s, because my bills were massive,” he said. “My kid held me together. I was almost suicidal. It was a disaster for me. I put my head down and kept pushing forward.”

Fyk set out to build and maintain as many pages of all varieties as he possibly could. His wife thought he was crazy. “I’m sitting there when we couldn’t put food on the table spending all this time on Facebook pages,” he said. “I’m telling her, ‘Look, I know the distribution is going to be valuable.’”

“It was a stupid drunken brawl,” he said, adding he had met the people involved in the fight only a few minutes earlier. “Granted, people got hit, and granted, it was a fight, but it was never a felony fight. It was misdemeanor-assault stuff.”

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Shortly after WTF launched, Fyk found himself behind bars. He'd driven to Baltimore to interview an American stunt group, the Adrenaline Crew, for a story. They were all hanging out in a parking lot, about to drive to the interview location, when a drunken brawl broke out. Startled, Fyk said, he stood off to the side and began filming the fight on his smartphone. When things got serious, he stopped recording and tried to break up the fight. Instead, he got blamed for allegedly planning the altercation and found himself charged with attempted murder.

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“It didn’t really matter if a page was specific to my brand,” he said. “I could get distribution whether it was through WTF or through a 'Family Guy' fan page, for example. As long as I got someone to like a page, they were effectively one more member of the distribution list.”

Facebook had launched Pages for businesses in 2007, but they were slow to take off. Even by 2011, no one was quite sure of their value. Fyk saw an opportunity, though.

“The only resource I had was social media, and it was free,” he said. “I decided to give everything I could toward getting as many eyeballs in my possession. Basically, I needed a distribution list.”

The wheel bearing is a critical part of the wheel assembly that connects the vehicle's axles to its wheels. A bearing is made up of a series of lubricated steel balls (ball bearings) or tapers (tapered bearings) held together within a metal ring. The bearing allows the wheel to rotate smoothly with as little friction as possible. Wheel bearings are vital to the performance and safety of a car. They allow you to drive and sustain both radial and axial loads caused by acceleration, deceleration, cornering and gravitational forces.

Fyk, 40, is now a self-made millionaire who's built his fortune almost entirely on Facebook. It's a rewarding business, but not without its challenges. He's found he must play a constant game of cat and mouse with teenage hackers and digital thieves on the social network. Additionally, he must run his business on a field of battle that is constantly shifting because of Facebook’s habit of routinely — and mysteriously — tweaking its algorithm.

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1. Noises—Strange noises are often associated with failing wheel bearings. You might hear a humming, rumbling or growling noise when you make sharp turns and/or accelerate. Or, it could be a constant loud grinding or whining noise while driving at certain speeds (or at all times). Sometimes, it may be clunking noises when driving over bumps and rough road surfaces.

Fyk tried to think of ways to make a lot of money quickly. His jail story was so strange, he felt it might make for a compelling book. But he wasn’t an established writer, and he knew the only way to sell a book would be to build a following.

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Still, Fyk was thrown in jail and had to spend the little money his family had left on a lawyer. Two months later, the charges were dropped and Fyk was released from prison, broke.

A wheel bearing is one of those minor parts we don't think about until it becomes a problem. However, it is actual a major component that drastically affects handling, safety and performance. At the first sign of wheel bearing issues or any other concerns with your wheels, brakes, axles or tires, you should get your car inspected as soon as possible. You also want to make sure your wheel bearings are inspected and maintained as part of your regular maintenance routine. This is how you keep your vehicle running right!

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4. ABS Malfunctions—There is an anti-lock braking system (ABS) sensor integrated in the wheel-end bearing of most modern vehicles. You may see your ABS warning light come on, which could be the sign of a brake system issue or a problem with one of your wheel bearings.

A wheel bearing can fail for any number of reasons. It may not have been installed properly, it could just be an inferior part, or it can be neglected during routine maintenance. It's smart to get your wheel bearings checked with each service visit and lubricated/greased as needed to keep things working correctly. A damaged wheel bearing can happen from a rough impact on the road (pot hole or speed bump). It can also happen if driving through a lot of mud, snow or rain, where moisture and other contaminants might seep into the bearing ring and weaken the lubrication.

If you are in the Northern Delaware area and are concerned about any automotive issues—or if you just want a routine inspection and general maintenance—call Fox Run Auto today at (302) 597-9205 or schedule your service appointment online.

Your wheels and tires are what connect you and your vehicle to the road when driving. Your wheel bearings (or wheel hub bearings) are what connect those wheels to the to the axle. Remember the old song about "the knee bone is connected to the shin bone...?" It's kind of like that. If the wheels are the feet of your car (with the tires being your shoes), then the wheel bearings are part of the ankles. In other words, they are very important to your vehicle being able to move around.

Fyk's financial troubles dated to 2005. Fyk had been working in real estate. As the months went by, the market turned. Eventually, it caused him to go into a “financial tailspin,” as he puts it. With a wife and a young child to support, he scrambled to find a new way to generate income.

“[Our team] was running with no money,” Fyk said of the digital business' early days. “We were doing the fake-it-till-you-make-it thing, putting content together and starting to pick up steam, but I had no idea what I was doing.”

At first, he tried to build on just one Facebook page, representing WTF Magazine. Before long, he realized that pages even totally unrelated to his website could be useful as well.

2. Loose Steering—If your steering wheel (or control of the car, in general) feels unusually "loose," it is cause for concern. A bad wheel bearing may be the culprit or it could be a number of other power steering, suspension, brake, drivetrain, wheel or tire issues worth getting looked at by a professional mechanic.

3. Vibrations—Often felt while turning or accelerating/decelerating, significant vibrations in your steering wheel can be a sign of a damaged wheel bearing.