Thought it was a bad bearing but...

I took the car to GST today to get what I thought was a bad wheel bearing fixed. Looks like it's something else though. No play in any of the 4 wheels when we put the car on the lift. Just to make sure it wasn't noise from a goofy tire I rotated them too. Nope. Still just this annoying moaning sound that rattles the floor starting at about 40mph. What the hec else could this be?

bent wheel maybe? or feathered tire

You won't feel any extra play in the wheel if the bearing is shot, you need to run the car while it is up on the hoist, then listen with a rod to all the bearings in turn.

 

That's the most reliable way of finding the offending one.

You won't feel any extra play in the wheel if the bearing is shot, you need to run the car while it is up on the hoist, then listen with a rod to all the bearings in turn.

 

That's the most reliable way of finding the offending one.

 

+1000. Ran into the same problem. Dealer insisted that the caliper must be sticking. I insisted bearing. I won the bet (and saved a lot of money)

Where in the northwest are you? Had any snow recently? If so it could be ice in the wheel or wheelwells. I just had a suspension swap done and the recent snowfall we had was bunched up under the car and made it very difficult to diagnose a problem we had with the install.

I'm in NorCal but I haven't taken the car up to the snow yet.

I had both rear hubs go out on me, so I know what the hum sounds like at 40mph. I dont hear anything similar from the fronts (or the rears again for that matter).

 

So I had to replace a CV boot on the front axles this weekend, and gave the now disconnected hubs a couple spins. What should it feel like? How much resistance should the free hub have? what do the bearings sound like when they aren't loaded?

 

I felt a bit of drag in the bearings an noise that didn't make me happy, but most of my experience is with bicycles that demand higher performing bearing races.

Rolled the dice and bought a bearing against the observations and advice of the service tech. Dropped the car off on Tuesday and had it installed. Problem solved. Thanks LGT.com!

this is weird..im not sure it relates..but i just put on my new rims and tires yesterday.. rims are 17x8 tires are 235/40/17. The car drives fine..in fact better as i was driving home on the highway. however, started hearing this drone/moaning sound as i was approaching a stop/red light or slowing down. the sound was still present as i picked up speed. and then today..i turned my car on as i was going home and my brake light indicator went off.. i had no idea so i played with the e-brake and that didnt solve it. i drove a little more and the light turned off. it then turned back on after i left a red light. it once again turned off and then on after i left another red .. as of right now the light is just staying on.. so my question is any of this related to my new tires/wheels including the sound? could it be a bearing? and how bout the brake light?