bad wheel bearing but which corner?

I have a loud grinding noise at speeds above 40 mph.

 

I am suspecting a bad wheel bearing but have jacked up each corner individually and cannot feel any play in the wheels.

 

The noise goes completely away when taking sweeping left hand curves at highway speeds and seems to get worse on the right hand curves.

 

Should this info point me towards a specific wheel bearing?? If not, how do I decide where to start replacing bearings?

BOTH REAR!! enjoy sir. just did mine. moog on amazon!

The noise increases under load, that's the side to look at first.

 

From my experience the fronts go before the rears.

 

 

Now someone will come and say just the opposite...

 

For Front's use OEM or go to here, http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/idea-web-links-saved-various-parts-219238.html

 

And start from the end and look back till you find the thread about wheel bearings.

 

As he said, Moogs are fine in the rear, my Wagon has Moogs in the rear. The fronts are more picky.

For those of us without a garage full of specialty tools or a second car to drive, is it easier to just replace the hub assembly and bearing together or is there a tool I can rent from autozone?

 

I don't care to spend a little more to save time and hassle but don't want to break the bank being lazy.

 

Time for some comparison shopping I guess.

You need a press to do the fronts, the rears are bolt in but get very seized into knuckle and backing plate.

 

Normally i would say moog makes the best stuff they are like the 3m of automotive parts, but for bearings i dont trust anything but subaru parts.

 

I bought 2 ebay rear bearings detroit brand 2 yrs ago and they lasted less then 10k miles befor they were louder than the ones i had replaced. I now have a subaru bearing on rr and the more expensive one that napa sells on lr. So far the napa one has been ok but it was $25 more than the one from subaru so its not worth it....

 

Also when the bearings go bad tjey generally do not have any play, unless the axle nut isnt tight enough. The way to check them is put it up and spin it you can either feel the flat spots as you spin it by hand or spin it fast by hand and use a stethoscope on the knuckle or head of the bolts for bearing from back side, which ever is loudest is the culprit

Like the rears, the fronts just bolt on.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/front-wheel-bearing-diy-walkthrough-86994.html

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/diy-rear-wheel-bearing-replacement-walk-through-w-pdf-188666.html

 

I've changed both front and rears.

 

PB Blaster is your best friend.

no press needed. OEM for for front Moog or even timpken rear. job isn't bad, my rears had 125k of all northeast climate took under 2 hours to do both on a lift. wd40 and let it soak a bit then they popped right out

I won't have access to a lift but will probably do it at work on a weekend so I am sure to have all necessary tools at my disposal.

 

Also a large supply of PB Blaster.

I bought the Detroit Axle front bearing assemblies. Still have to install the second one, but I've had zero problems with them (aside from it being a major pain just to get the things off the car.

I bought the Detroit Axle front bearing assemblies. Still have to install the second one, but I've had zero problems with them (aside from it being a major pain just to get the things off the car.

 

How many miles have you put on the Detroit Axle bearing assemblies??

How many miles have you put on the Detroit Axle bearing assemblies??

 

Like 9,000 miles so far. I had to replace the driver's side front after a stuck caliper on the highway roasted the bearing assembly a week after I got the car. Behaves just like the stock one did.

I have timken up front. Good for last 30-40k. Getting ball joints out of the knuckle might be the only rental type "press" tool to look into. I just smacked the lower control arms. I do not recommend this.

 

Hub and bearing assembly are sold together.

I have heard good things about Timkin wheel bearings in our cars, and I've used their bearings successfully for years at work.

 

I wonder who actually makes the bearing in the OEM assembly. Anyone know?

Tip: Drive your car along an area that has more than 4' of wall, doesn't matter what the wall is made of, because you're only going to use it to hear sounds reflecting off the wall. I did this with each of my wheel bearings to determine where the sound is coming from....front/back...left/right.

Cant vouch for the fronts but the rear detriot brand are garbage i got 6 months/10k miles out of each of the 2 i bought and they were louder than my exhaust.

 

I have had no issues w there axles i did both fronts 2 years ago and they have held up fine

My rears are Moogs and I have 1 Duralast Gold up front. So far, so good after 20k + miles.

I have heard good things about Timkin wheel bearings in our cars, and I've used their bearings successfully for years at work.

 

I wonder who actually makes the bearing in the OEM assembly. Anyone know?

 

I think that is discussed in one of the wheel bearing threads.

 

May be NSK ?

What's funny is, I've replaced 3 of my wheel bearings and my front driver side bearing is still the original OEM one after 155k miles. Now since I've said this, I expect it to go out soon.

What's funny is, I've replaced 3 of my wheel bearings and my front driver side bearing is still the original OEM one after 155k miles. Now since I've said this, I expect it to go out soon.

 

Mine was totally fine until I roasted it with stuck brake.

What's funny is, I've replaced 3 of my wheel bearings and my front driver side bearing is still the original OEM one after 155k miles. Now since I've said this, I expect it to go out soon.

 

KNOCK ON WOOD, replaced all but drivers as well 125k. I have the replacement ready, but shes still solid

Finally got around to replacing the wheel bearings this weekend. I'm very jealous of the people that live in the warmer (rust/salt free) climates.

 

There was rust EVERYWHERE! Rented a hub puller and it shoved my axle straight through the back of the assembly and didn't remove the HBA. Maybe I used it wrong??

 

After letting it soak in PB blaster for 24hours and going at it with a mini sledge hammer, slide hammer, and air hammer for a long time, I decided to pull the entire thing off, set it on blocks, and beat it out from the back using an actual sledgehammer.

 

After cleaning everything as best I could, reassembly was a piece of cake.

 

Now that I have a better plan I bet the driver's side front only takes me a few hours.

 

 

TL/DR:

 

RUST SUCKS!!!

Wow that's some story, good luck on the other side. If you can let the PB do its thing over night before you start.

I'm going to let it soak overnight before I start the next one but given the condition of the inside of my rotors, I'm tempted to buy some new ones and replace it all at once.

 

Any place the brake pad doesn't touch is covered in a 1/16" of rust.

 

The car came from Virginia and I'm assuming the previous owner rarely (if ever) paid attention to the under carriage.

Or parked the car on the grass all the time.

 

Yours sounded much worst then my wagon which spends all its time here in the NE. I will say my left rear was worst then the right rear.

 

You may also want to try Aero-Kroil, google it, the stuff is amazing.

I will try that stuff out. This is the first time ever that PB Blaster has failed me.