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Wheel bearings are steel balls, held together by a metal ring called the race. The work of these balls is to reduce the friction while the wheel is spinning. Used in every vehicle from bicycles to airplanes, these components in the car are equipped on a metal axle shaft inside the hub. This hub is located at the center of the wheel which helps in bolting the tire onto the wheel. And, the bearings are fitted into the hub from the back of the wheel.

Wheel bearingnoise dangerous

Another reason cause bad wheel bearing noise is driving on a flooded street. If you drive your vehicle on a street that is flooded with water, your wheel bearings will be subjected to moisture. Moisture will mix with lubricant then makes the lubricant work ineffectively, causing damage to the wheel bearings. In this case, you can not service or repair a modern-style wheel bearing. According to auto experts, the only solution for damage caused by water is replacing the wheel bearing.

What do you do when a customer brings you a vehicle with a roaring or howling noise coming from a wheel? In most cases, it can be coming from a worn tire, or a worn bearing. It is not easy to tell, but there are ways to determine what is causing the problem.

While you drive your car, the wheel bearing of your car will receive all the pressure of the wheel and tire. Therefore, if you drive over a pothole or a bumpy curb, there will be more pressure on your wheel bearing which causes it damaged very easily. While driving, hitting something is a risk that you can not avoid, which leads to more force on the balls of the wheel bearing. This will result in small imperfections in the wheel bearings. Driving a car with these faulty bearings for a long period will more heat and wear to form. Debris will be created from the wear and then will pollute the lubricant of the wheel bearing, making the wheel bearing fail more faster.

If you’re still not sure whether the issue lies in the tires or one of the wheel bearings, check out the most common symptoms of each issue:

The best way to figure out the cause of this noise is to check the tires first. If the tires look good, then check the wheel bearings.

While driving, do you hear the growling, howling, or sometimes the grinding noise, which increases with the vehicle’s speed? If that’s a yes, then you must know that most of the time it’s the damaged wheel bearing making noise.  “Wheel Bearing- What is that?” – If you have the same question in mind, then let’s first learn about it. Followed by which, you can then comprehend and practice the ways to diagnose the bad wheel bearing noise.

If you’re replacing a bad wheel hub bearing, you want to make sure that your techs use high quality replacement parts. Using high quality replacement parts:

How to fixnoisy front wheel bearing

The wheel system can work steadily based on its wheel bearing, lower joint, lower arm, tire, and shock. If you drive your car with unbalanced tires, some of those other parts will be broken and cause bad wheel bearing symptoms.

Before taking the car to the nearest mechanic store, let’s learn the three different methods to check the wheel bearing and see if it’s bad.

For this, you need a device such as an OBD2 scanner (a kind of Bluetooth device), providing all the information related to the vehicle’s configuration and the present status of its components. To check the status of the wheel bearing, connect the device to the tab/computer. Then, enter the defined code of the wheel bearing on the tab’s screen and confirm its status.

You may also trace this noise to a loose pinion-bearing preload. It’s likely the case when you only hear the noise when decelerating.

Wheel bearingnoise when accelerating

If the wheel bearing and tires look good, you may want to check the drivetrain. Sometimes a humming or growling noise is a sign of an issue within the drivetrain.

Before moving ahead, it’s important to note that not every vehicle has scanners embedded in it. Therefore, cars having ABS sensors can actually make use of this technology. Usually, the latest manufactured cars have this technology.

Even if you have replaced your wheel bearings with new ones, you still hear some bad wheel bearing noise. The only conclusion is that the wheel bearings make bad sounds because they were installed in the wrong way (not following the manufacturer’s recommendation).

A worn wheel bearing can cause a howling noise. If you’re also hearing a rumbling noise when turning, then it’s likely a bad wheel bearing.

Hence, these are the three easy methods, which can help in checking the bad wheel bearing sound. And later, can help you in following the maintenance tips for the same.

Wheel bearingnoise quick fix

For this step, you need to raise the car from the front by supporting it safely on the jack stand; with the rear tires blocked off. This latter action is necessary to prevent the vehicle from moving behind. Now let’s start diagnosing the front wheel bearing and make sure that’s the source of the problem.

We put together this noise guide to save you some labor time. You can have your technicians find the noise that best describes what they’re hearing in the list below. From there, they may be able to figure out what the issue is.

It can be hard to figure out if the noise is caused by a wheel bearing or a tire. There’s something you can try, though. Turn the steering wheel slightly to the left or right. If the noise gets worse, then it’s likely one of the wheel bearings.

Noisy front wheel bearingwhile driving

Wheel bearings are connected to the wheel, therefore if the wheel area is damaged, the wheel bearing will be damaged and then cause bad wheel bearing noise.

Firstly, grab the tire from two ends in the three and nine o’clock position and shake it back and forth. If while shaking the wheel you can hear a certain noise, this indicates the bad wheel bearing. Next, to ensure that it’s the bad wheel bearing sound and not the bad wheel run, repeat the same process by holding the tire in the twelve and six o’clock positions. During this diagnosing procedure, also keep a check on the components behind the wheel. As it would ensure that, the problem is not with any other part but the wheel bearing only.

Wheel bearingreplacement cost

Here, it is pivotal to note that this sound may appear to be coming from the tires or windowpane but actually the problem’s source lies with the wheel bearing. The biggest difference one can notice is that the car with the good wheel bearings doesn’t produce a howling or grinding noise like the one with the bad bearings.

Wheel bearingsymptoms

If the noise is more “growly”, then the issue is likely a bad wheel bearing. The noise may become louder the faster you drive.

In every vehicle, wheel bearings are accompanied by the wheel and are also moving constantly. While driving, the wheels are touching the road, therefore there could be a wide range of reasons that make the wheel bearings produce bad sound. Here are 5 common reasons for sounds of bad wheel bearing.

In extreme cases, a failed wheel bearing can cause abnormal tire wear. When that happens, the noise you’re hearing is caused by both a bad wheel bearing and a worn tire.

To hear the sound of the wheel bearing, you need to drive your car above the speed of 30mph. And, at this time, you can notice that as you drive faster the noise of the bad or damaged wheel bearing increases.

If you’re hearing this noise, the issue may be a bad wheel bearing. To confirm it, change the speed of the vehicle. If the noise becomes worse the faster you drive, then it’s almost certainly a bad wheel bearing. If the noise remains the same, then the issue may be the tires instead.

Additionally, to know which side of the wheel bearing is damaged turn the vehicle gently. For instance, if the car after turning left produces little less sound this means, the problem lies with the right side bearings, and vice-versa.

Noisy front wheel bearingsymptoms

If the issue is a worn wheel bearing, you’d typically hear this noise while cornering or making sharp turns with moderate speed. A bad CV joint can be heard at low speeds with the steering wheel all the way to one side or the other. It can’t hurt to check both the wheel bearings and CV joint(s).

Bad wheel bearing noise is a common problem that can significantly impact the safety and performance of a vehicle. Identifying and addressing wheel bearing issues promptly is crucial to ensure the continued functioning of the vehicle and avoid potential accidents or further damage. We hope that the article will be useful for you.

The noise may be the result of an under-inflated tire or improperly aligned tires. These issues cause part of the tires (or one tire) to be scrubbing on the pavement. That causes a squealing noise.

If the problem is a worn wheel bearing, then you’re hearing a knocking noise because the bearing isn’t rotating as freely as it should. A bad tire can cause a knocking or thumping noise, too. To be more specific: