Suspect that your car is suffering from a faulty wheel bearing? Our guide can help you check and diagnose the problem, and decide if and when it’s still safe to drive.

If you’re aware that there’s an issue with your car’s wheel bearing, it’s best to take it straight to a mechanic for a full diagnosis and repair. Often, it may just be a case of relubricating the ball bearings within the assembly before repacking them, which is significantly simpler to put right than the alternative.

As you’ll know from our car maintenance glossary, bearings allow the wheels to turn freely without generating huge amounts of heat. If a bearing were to fail, the wheel can seize up altogether, resulting in catastrophic damage and the potential for a serious incident. Indeed, in the very worst-case scenario, a failed bearing can cause the wheel to rip away from the car entirely.

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“The America the Beautiful initiative reflects an inherently pragmatic approach that puts people at the center and outlines an inclusive and collaborative vision where locally led efforts to conserve, steward, and restore lands and waters will help us reach our shared goals.”

When the car is elevated and in place, take hold of each wheel in turn and wiggle it backwards and forwards, side to side. If there is any play in the wheel, it feels wobbly or loose, or an unusual noise accompanies some minor movement, then you’ve found the problem wheel.

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Need to recap the signs of a failing wheel bearing? Here are the symptoms to watch out for while you’re driving, particularly when turning corners:

These efforts build upon the existing investments made through the Great American Outdoors Act to support the creation of more parks and increased access to the outdoors and nature-based recreation in historically underrepresented communities while creating jobs that support restoration and resilience. The initiative also prioritizes supporting Tribally led conservation and restoration priorities, as well as expanding collaborative conservation of fish and wildlife habitats and corridors.

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The cost of a wheel bearing replacement in the UK is roughly £150-£300, dependent on the make and model of your car and a mechanic’s labour costs. The good news is that you don’t need to replace all wheel bearings at once if the other three remain in a safe and serviceable condition.

Typically, wheel bearings have a lifespan of around 85,000 to 100,000 miles, so if your car is approaching these kinds of figures, it’s important to keep an eye on the tell-tale signs of a bearing in decline.

To help facilitate these goals, the Biden-Harris administration launched a $1 billion America the Beautiful Challenge to leverage federal conservation and restoration investments with private and philanthropic contributions to accelerate land, water, and wildlife conservation efforts across the country. These grants support projects that conserve, restore and connect habitats for wildlife while improving community resilience and access to nature.

President Biden has issued a call to action that we work together to conserve, connect, and restore at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030 for the sake of our economy, our health, and our well-being.

If you suspect you have a wheel bearing fault but aren’t sure which side of the vehicle is affected, there’s a safe and simple test you can use to check. Our step-by-step guide below can take you through how it’s done…

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Once you’ve performed this basic wheel bearing test, you should have a better idea of where the problem is. Then, it’s a case of diagnosing the front or rear wheel on the side in question.

As directed by President Biden’s Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the Department of the Interior has partnered with agencies across the federal government to advance an inclusive and collaborative conservation vision.

Confident in car maintenance DIY? Lubricate and service your car’s wheel bearings with Holts Multi-Purpose Lithium Grease. Trusted by professionals, it reduces friction and wear in all moving parts, even those that work under extreme pressure. For more top tips and advice, read the Holts blog or visit our help and advice centre.

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We will continue to undertake this process with broad engagement, including agricultural and forest landowners, fishers, outdoor enthusiasts, Tribal Nations, States, territories, local officials, and other important partners and stakeholders to identify strategies that reflect the priorities of all communities. We recognize that rewarding voluntary conservation efforts of fishers, ranchers, farmers, and forest owners is integral to this effort.

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The President’s goal of conserving at least 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030 is more than a number— it is a challenge to build on the nation’s best conservation traditions, to be faithful to principles that reflect the country’s values, and to improve the quality of Americans’ lives — now and for decades to come.

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To meet the moment, the Biden-Harris administration has launched America the Beautiful, a decade-long challenge to pursue a locally led and voluntary, nationwide effort to conserve, connect, and restore the lands, waters, and wildlife upon which we all depend. The key principles that are guiding our conservation efforts include:

In addition to evaluating how to best assess the country’s progress toward this ambitious and urgent goal, we will also look for ways to achieve more equitable access to nature and its benefits for all people in America – no matter their zip code.

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To do that, you’ll first need to jack up your car so that both wheels are off the ground. We would strongly recommend using service ramps for this to ensure you can carry out the following checks safely.

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Continuing to drive on a bad wheel bearing can lead to extensive and critical damage which will be significantly more expensive to repair than a simple bearing re-grease and service. And in the worst cases, the damage from a faulty bearing that goes untreated can prove impossible to fix, particularly if it contributes to corrosion of surrounding components and the axle.

Replacing all of your car’s wheel bearings might cost an eye-watering sum, but it’s guaranteed to be a lot cheaper than repairing the damage should a bearing fail.

At the Department of the Interior, we know that nature is essential to the health, well-being, and prosperity of every family and every community in America. From the bounty of the Great Plains and vast coastal forests to the high deserts of the Southwest and beyond, our lands and waters define who we are and who we, as a nation, want to be.

Given the damage that can occur as a result of a failed wheel bearing, not to mention the dangers, this further reinforces the importance of getting those bearings checked and repaired the moment you realise there’s a problem.

You can still drive with a bad wheel bearing, but we wouldn’t recommend it for long distances. Keep your mileage to a minimum and look out for worsening symptoms of a wheel bearing fault; we cover the symptoms to check for later in this guide.