PDA

View Full Version : FWD bad wheel bearing?



QuickShift
09-08-2011, 01:32 PM
I have a 95 SL, and sometimes when I'm driving there is a slight vibration in the steering wheel. it feels like it's coming from the front driver's side. it's most noticable at ~60+ mph. could this be a worn wheel bearing? or am I misdiagnosing the issue completely?

STiedVR4Guy
09-08-2011, 06:00 PM
Could be a lot of things, to test the wheel bearing, jack the car up, lock the steering and then try to wiggle the wheel. If it moves quite a bit then yea its probably really shot. From what I have heard front wheel bearings can be a pita...

another thing could be simply unbalanced tires. I am still chasing down a shake in my steering wheel lol. I think mine might be due to worn out steering rack and unbalanced tires at the moment. Perhaps a bad rear motor mount.

green-lantern
09-08-2011, 06:08 PM
Could be a lot of things, to test the wheel bearing, jack the car up, lock the steering and then try to wiggle the wheel. If it moves quite a bit then yea its probably really shot. From what I have heard front wheel bearings can be a pita...

another thing could be simply unbalanced tires. I am still chasing down a shake in my steering wheel lol. I think mine might be due to worn out steering rack and unbalanced tires at the moment. Perhaps a bad rear motor mount.

This

and does it do it when you hit the brakes?

A lot of times you can hear a wheel bearing so I would lean toward unbalanced tire.

IPD
09-08-2011, 07:32 PM
to clarify:

if the jacked-up wheel moves from top to bottom, it's probably a bad wheel bearing. if it moves side to side, it's probably tie-rod ends.

you can check for wheel balance fairly easy. rotate the tires and see if the problem shifts location.

green-lantern
09-08-2011, 07:41 PM
to clarify:

if the jacked-up wheel moves from top to bottom, it's probably a bad wheel bearing. if it moves side to side, it's probably tie-rod ends.

you can check for wheel balance fairly easy. rotate the tires and see if the problem shifts location.

qft

You definitely don't want to check side to side for bearing play. There is enough play in the steering and lock to get side to side play.

b_rad
08-26-2015, 11:54 PM
im having a similar problem. I only get a vibrating/humming noise when i am driving and it usually starts at about 3500rpm. more often in 1st gear and was never making noise in any other driving condition. just the other day i hit a bump and it made that same noise for a split second and it also was happening very randomly on for a second. the car doesnt vibrate at all, i just had tires put on and balanced/aligned and still drives straight and let my hands off the wheel to check it and it doesnt veer off. i dont lose any performance and the only "feel" i get is from the car through the pedals but its really almost non existent. almost sounds like its coming from the front left.

ill go ahead and jack it up to check the wheel. the shop that put the wheels on never said anything about the wheel bearings being bad and they usually ALWAYS found something they said you need to fix. i just know ive had bad wheel bearings on other cars in the past and they werent similar to this as there is no problem with the cars performance or driveability at all. car has 108k miles and is all stock suspension parts.

IPD
08-27-2015, 12:15 AM
im having a similar problem. I only get a vibrating/humming noise when i am driving and it usually starts at about 3500rpm. more often in 1st gear and was never making noise in any other driving condition. just the other day i hit a bump and it made that same noise for a split second and it also was happening very randomly on for a second. the car doesnt vibrate at all, i just had tires put on and balanced/aligned and still drives straight and let my hands off the wheel to check it and it doesnt veer off. i dont lose any performance and the only "feel" i get is from the car through the pedals but its really almost non existent. almost sounds like its coming from the front left.

ill go ahead and jack it up to check the wheel. the shop that put the wheels on never said anything about the wheel bearings being bad and they usually ALWAYS found something they said you need to fix. i just know ive had bad wheel bearings on other cars in the past and they werent similar to this as there is no problem with the cars performance or driveability at all. car has 108k miles and is all stock suspension parts.

aftermarket or stock wheels? if aftermarket, do you have the hub-centric spacer rings installed? if not, then you're running your wheel lug-centric, and that can easily fry bearings. ask me how i know this....

b_rad
08-27-2015, 07:43 PM
aftermarket 18" Drag brand wheels. cant say if its always done it since ive owned it, which is about a year and a half now. of course, i dont have previous owner info so i cant call to confirm.

auto shop didnt say anything about spacer rings. guess ill just have to check myself. what would they look like? i attached a picture of the wheel.

IPD
08-27-2015, 08:10 PM
The rings are what keeps the wheel a hub-centric fit (the hub supports the weight of the wheel), rather than lug-centric, where the lugs support the weight of the wheel. Those rings fit inside the aftermarket wheel center to give a snug fit to the hub on your car.

b_rad
08-27-2015, 08:23 PM
if i do end up finding there are no rings how do i know what size i would need to buy?

IPD
08-27-2015, 08:39 PM
That varies based on the specs of the wheel & the hub it's fitted to. Manufacturers all like to use bigger size bores so they can fit more types of hubs, but you'll need ring SETS for some of them. (eg. 118mm center bore & 75mm hub). Since there's several different hub sizes in between 75mm & 110mm, there is usually a ring for each one, and you'd have to use an entire set to step-down appropriately.

Anyone else feel like chiming in?

b_rad
08-27-2015, 10:41 PM
yea i guess i wont know until i get in there. it did make noises even before i had the tires put on in april so i know it wouldnt be a shop fault. it just seems to me like it could be something else because it sometimes wont do it at all for a really long time and then start doing it again very randomly. ive had it easily up to 100mph no problem and it never made noise. tire wear is pretty even. camber is good also. ill still have to wait until i jack the car to check the wheel play

Chris@Rvengeperformance
08-28-2015, 12:55 PM
I don't think its accurate to say the hub bore carries the weight. The clamp load of the lugs holds the wheel and hub under compression and this force holds the wheel. The lugs are never in shear unless they are loose.

stealthee
08-29-2015, 10:38 AM
I'll just point out that my Villains have at least a 70.3mm center bore (came off a Mustang) compared to our stock 67.1mm center bore. I have never used hub centric rings and I have never had any issue with shimmy or shake. I always center the wheels as best as possible and tighten the lugs slowly so they center them wheel on the hub.

All hub centric rings do is perfectly center the wheel to prevent possible vibration.

b_rad
08-29-2015, 11:35 PM
yea i still cant figure out why im getting this noise. if it happened all the time then that would be easier to diagnose. i remember when i had a bad wheel on a previous car it made a seriously loud noise all the time.

IPD
08-30-2015, 08:25 AM
I'll just point out that my Villains have at least a 70.3mm center bore (came off a Mustang) compared to our stock 67.1mm center bore. I have never used hub centric rings and I have never had any issue with shimmy or shake. I always center the wheels as best as possible and tighten the lugs slowly so they center them wheel on the hub.

All hub centric rings do is perfectly center the wheel to prevent possible vibration.

tell that to milt. he just had to replace NEW wheel bearings on the front of my car, because of the lack of centering rings.

stealthee
08-30-2015, 09:16 AM
You can think its because of lack of centering rings all you want, but I am telling you I have ran for YEARS without centering rings, and never once had an issue. And even the places that sell centering rings say "Hub centric rings center the wheel to prevent vibration." I don't see vibration alone hurting wheel bearings, unless there are other factors at play, such as improper torquing of the axle nut, etc.

EDIT: Don't you have really wide tires/wheels? That width was probably more of a factor in your wheel bearings than the lack of a center ring.

IPD
08-30-2015, 09:53 AM
plenty of other members running 275/285's without issue.

Chris@Rvengeperformance
08-30-2015, 08:40 PM
It makes no sense to blame centering rings for this. Rings or not the hub bears the load.

Wider wheels, spacers, offsets can all cause more leverage against the bearing, but as you mentioned, lots of people get away with it.

Improperly torqued, rolling around without axles, or just defective bearings are more likely causes imo.