When purchasing a used vehicle, most people are concerned about finding a specific make or model, body style, performance package, amenities, or even color.

For other wheel hubs and bearings, the replacement schedule is a little more variable and also depends on the kind of driving you do, in addition to how many miles you’ve driven.

Have you ever gone to check your vehicle’s tire air pressure and found the cap that screws on the valve stem was missing on one or more tires?

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When bearings wear out, it’s usually because they’ve changed shape slightly and are no longer efficient or because their surface has gone brittle and is starting to break apart.

No matter how the bearing is starting to wear, wearing out will reduce the efficiency and create more friction, heat, and roughness while you’re driving.

A typical wheel bearing is either a metal sphere or a metal cylinder that can rotate freely to help reduce friction. There are several of them in all of your wheels; anywhere two surfaces would touch while the vehicle is moving. That way, the friction turns the bearing, which both reduces the friction and helps prevent overheating.

A wheel bearing failure can have serious consequences, especially if it occurs while driving at highway speeds and the vehicle loses a wheel. That’s why you should have an ASE certified technician inspect your wheel bearings at least annually, and test drive your vehicle to listen for any troublesome noises.

Unfortunately, like all bearings, wheel bearings can wear out and occasionally need to be replaced. In fact, replacing them is especially important because a worn bearing can create more friction than your wheels can handle, resulting in damage and even more instability the longer you wait to fix the problem.

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Faulty wheel bearings may also impact your vehicle’s anti-lock brake system (ABS). Excessive play, wear, or looseness in the hub will often cause the sensor ring to wobble as it rotates. Wheel speed sensors are very sensitive to changes in the air gap between the tip of the sensor and the sensor ring. Consequently, a worn wheel bearing may cause an erratic signal which will set a wheel speed sensor trouble code and result in the ABS warning light coming on.

Unexpected noises are always concerning when it comes to your vehicle, but loud noises from your wheels usually mean that something is going on either in the wheel hub or brake system.

Screeching or rasping noises are two of the most common, but a loud rumble or grumbling sound can also be a sign that your wheel bearings are starting to do.

That’s because the extra friction from a worn wheel bearing gets transferred through your entire vehicle, especially the wheel assembly and steering system.

All the wheels on your vehicle have bearings, and that’s important for helping reduce the friction between moving parts and to help keep your ride smoother and quieter.

Wheel Bearing costAutoZone

However, every once in a while, something will go wrong, and you’ll need to take a closer look at your wheels or get your vehicle to a mechanic so they can check it out.

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By incorporating these practices into your vehicle care routine, you’re not just maintaining your wheel bearings – you’re investing in your car’s overall health and your peace of mind on the road.

If you catch that your wheel bearing is starting to have trouble quickly, you might just be able to replace one or two of the bearings without needing to fix anything else inside your wheel hub.

However, uneven tire wear can also be a sign that your wheel bearings are going out, especially if the wear seems to only affect one tire.

Cost to fix wheel bearingcalculator

Most people know all about tire replacement, at least if they’re car drivers, but a lot of people don’t know much else about how the inside of your vehicle’s wheel works. That’s okay; the majority of the time, you don’t need to know how your wheels are working; you just need to make sure they are.

An average vehicle weighs around 4,000 lbs. That is a lot of weight that must be supported over thousands of miles. To perform as required, wheel bearings must be in almost perfect condition, have adequate lubrication, and be sealed to keep lubricant in and contamination out. Although wheel bearings are engineered to last a long time, constant load and turning takes a toll on the bearings, grease, and seals. Premature wheel bearing failure results from damage due to impact, contamination, loss of grease, or a combination of these.

If the seals on a sealed bearing assembly fail, the seals cannot be replaced separately. The entire hub assembly needs to be replaced. Wheel bearings that are not factory sealed, which are rare today, require periodic maintenance. They should be cleaned, inspected, repacked with new grease, and have new seals installed approximately every 30,000 miles or according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

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Your wheel bearings or wheel hub will likely need to be replaced every 85,000-100,000 miles if they’re sealed, which prevents maintenance but also helps the bearings last a little longer.

A: The time it takes to repair a wheel bearing can vary based on the complexity of the repair and the type of vehicle. However, it typically takes about 15 to 45 minutes per wheel for an easy job, and as long as 90 to 120 minutes for more complex tasks.

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While wheel bearings are built to last, proactive care can significantly extend their lifespan and prevent costly repairs. Regular maintenance isn’t just about saving money; it’s about ensuring your safety on the road. Here are some key practices to keep your wheel bearings in top shape:

Most people recommend that your bearings should be checked every time your brakes are serviced, and that can include things like realigning the bearings to help prevent uneven wear, checking lubrication, and looking for early signs that the bearings are starting to wear out.

Wheel bearings are one of the parts of your vehicle that a lot of people don’t think about much, partially because it’s common for people not to know that your bearings are part of a brake service.

A: Generally, car insurance does not cover wheel bearing repair as it’s considered part of regular maintenance. However, if the damage was caused by an accident, it might be covered under your policy.

Reducing the friction when you’re driving makes it a lot easier for you to move and steer, so one of the first signs that your wheel bearings are starting to go out is if you’re starting to have more problems steering.

Cost to fix wheel bearingreddit

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A common way to inspect wheel bearings is to raise the wheels off the ground and rotate each wheel by hand while listening and feeling for any roughness or play in the hub. On vehicles with sealed wheel bearings, there should almost no play (less than .004 inches at most) or no play, and absolutely no roughness or noise. Inspecting for play can be accomplished by holding the tire at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions and rocking the tire back and forth. If there is any noticeable play, the wheel bearings are loose and need to be replaced or serviced.

Noticing wheel bearing issues quickly is incredibly important, but a lot of people brush off the most common symptoms of bad wheel bearings.

A: Common signs include a humming or rumbling noise that increases with speed, a loose or vibrating steering wheel, uneven tire wear, and the ABS light turning on.

Wheel bearingnoise

A single wheel bearing replacement should cost somewhere between $200-$400, depending on your location and the kind of bearings your vehicle uses.

Once a wheel bearing seal starts to leak, the bearing has begun the process of failure. A damaged grease seal will allow grease to leak out of the bearings, and dirt and water can then enter the bearing cavity. Water is the worst thing for bearings as it causes rust and contaminates the grease. Since so much weight is riding on the wheel bearings during driving and cornering, even the smallest amount of race and bearing damage will create noise.

Uneven tire wear is often a sign that you need to get a wheel alignment, and since alignments need to happen more often than a wheel bearing replacement, you’ll normally be able to fix the problem with an alignment.

Vibration in your steering wheel is another symptom that can point to a variety of problems, but one of the more common ones is wheel bearing wear.

One of the sources of those problems is often the wheel bearings. Since your wheel bearings deal with a lot of the wear and tear work of wheel rotation, it’s not abnormal for them to eventually wear out and need replacement.

A: While it’s technically possible, it’s not safe or recommended to drive with a damaged wheel bearing. Doing so can lead to further damage, loss of wheel control, and even accidents.

Although bearings reduce friction a great deal, automotive wheel bearings still take a lot of abuse. Not only do they have to support the weight of your vehicle while traveling over potholes, different types of roads, and the occasional curb, they must also withstand the lateral forces of corners you take and must do all of this while allowing your wheels to spin with minimal friction at thousands of revolutions per minute. They must also be self-sufficient and sealed tightly to prevent dust and water contamination. Modern wheel bearings are durable enough to accomplish all of this. Now that’s impressive!

Wheel bearing noise does not change when accelerating or decelerating but may change when turning. It may become louder or even disappear at certain speeds. It is important to not confuse a wheel bearing noise with tire noise, or with the noise a bad constant velocity (CV) joint makes. Faulty CV joints usually make a clicking noise when turning.

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Here’s what you need to know about what wheel bearings are, how much repairs cost, and the signs and symptoms that it might be time to get your wheels checked.

A: While it’s possible to repair a wheel bearing yourself if you have the right tools and knowledge, it’s generally recommended to have this kind of repair done by a professional mechanic to ensure it’s done correctly and safely.

Bearings have been around since the ancient Egyptians were building the pyramids. The concept behind a wheel bearing is simple: Things roll better than they slide. When things slide, the friction between them slows them down. If two surfaces can roll over one another, friction is greatly reduced. The ancient Egyptians placed round logs under heavy stones so they could roll them to the building site, thus reducing the friction caused by dragging the stones over the ground.

Frontwheel bearingreplacementcostNear me

So, it’s important to make sure you replace your wheel bearings as soon as possible after you notice a problem because otherwise, you’ll likely have a much more expensive repair when you get your vehicle to the shop.

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However, if you also need to replace the wheel hub, which houses the bearings, it will typically cost between $200-$500 depending on the hub and wheel type.

Wheel bearings are made using high quality and high spec steel. The inner and outer races, rings with a groove where the balls or rollers rest, and the rolling elements, rollers or balls, are all heat-treated. The hardened surface adds considerably to the wear resistance of the bearing.

Diagnosing a wheel bearing noise is not always easy. Deciding which one of your vehicle’s wheel bearings is making the noise can also be difficult, even for a seasoned technician. Therefore, many mechanics often recommend replacing multiple wheel bearings at the same time as they may not be sure which one has failed.

Now, this symptom is tricky because worn roads can also create more vibration, as can other problems that create friction or instability through your vehicle.

The problem is when you don’t catch wheel bearing problems fast enough, and you don’t need to just replace the bearings; you need to deal with the damage the broken bearings caused as well.

The first symptom of a wheel bearing problem is noise coming from the vicinity of the wheels. It usually starts with a barely audible growling, whirring, humming, or some kind of cyclic noise. The noise will generally increase in severity as the vehicle is driven. Another symptom is steering wandering resulting from excessive wheel bearing play.

Most vehicles sold today are equipped with wheel bearings that are sealed inside a hub assembly and require no maintenance. Sealed bearings are found on most newer cars, and on the front wheels of trucks and SUVs with independent front suspension. Sealed wheel bearings are engineered for a service life of more than 100,000 miles, and many are capable of going twice that distance. Even so, average bearing life can range from 80,000 to 120,000 miles depending on how a vehicle is driven and what the bearings are exposed to.

Depending on how quickly you’re able to get your wheel bearing replaced, there are two replacement costs you need to know about.

A typical hub contains an inner and an outer wheel bearing. Bearings are either roller or ball style. Tapered roller bearings are the best alternative since they more efficiently support both horizontal and lateral loads and can stand extreme shock such as hitting potholes. Tapered bearings have bearing surfaces situated at an angle. Tapered roller bearings are usually mounted in pairs with the angle facing opposite directions so they can handle thrust in both directions. Steel roller bearings are tiny drums that support the load. The taper or angle supports horizontal and lateral loading.

Fortunately, quick repairs or replacements usually help prevent excess damage and make it easier to get back on the road.