Determining if front wheel bearing is bad***FIXED***

1999 s10 4x4 blazer 116k miles

I have a loud humming noise that increases with speed, seems to be coming from the front and does not change with 4x4 on or off. Unfortunately it is not my girlfriend. Hoe to I determine if its a wheel bearing and wihich one ?

The bad hub/bearing on my passenger side front would get louder if I veered to the left while running down the road.

Going straight down the road 30-45 MPH with the wheel a little to the left or right and if noise changes it points to a wheel bearing.

Next step is to jack it up and put on stands and try shaking the wheel bearing and check for any looseness.
Then spin the wheels and listen for any rough or rattle sounds.
The bad bearing will usually make some kind of noise or be a little loose.
MT

Thanks for the advice I'll spend a little time this 3 day weekend trying to diagnosis it. Thanks again for the advice !!!

You are welcome and let us know how it goes.
MT

I noticed yesterday that my car is making a roaring sound when going down the road (kindof sounds like the tires roaring on a vehicle with big tires), which seems to be coming from my wheels. It gets louder between maybe 2nd and 3rd gear. I usually have the windows down on my car, so the noise may have been going on for a little while and me just not notice it, but yesterday used the air and with windows up the noise it noticeable. My brother said it sounds like a hub bearing to him. What do ya'll think? The car is a '04 Grand Prix GT.

I noticed yesterday that my car is making a roaring sound when going down the road (kindof sounds like the tires roaring on a vehicle with big tires), which seems to be coming from my wheels. It gets louder between maybe 2nd and 3rd gear. I usually have the windows down on my car, so the noise may have been going on for a little while and me just not notice it, but yesterday used the air and with windows up the noise it noticeable. My brother said it sounds like a hub bearing to him. What do ya'll think? The car is a '04 Grand Prix GT.

Welcome to AF.

Grand Prix problems should be posted in the Grand Prix forum with a new thread.

But you can read my post no 3 in this forum for a understanding of checking for wheel bearing noise.
Good Luck
MT

My loud humming roaring noise is gone, it turned out to be a bad pass front hub / bearing assembly. My noise would not change while turning either direction or when in 4x4 or not. I finally put the Blazer up on 4 jackstands, wheels off the ground, front wheels removed. I let it idle in 4x4 so the front wheels were rotating. I used a mechanics stethoscope and could hear noise in the passenger side hub and none in the drivers side hub. you could feel a vibration / grinding in the control arm on the passenger side also. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE VEHICLE RUNNING ON JACKSTANDS AND HAVE A BUDDY WITH YOU. I have 4 very sturdy wide based Snap-On jackstands and had my wife present to shut the truck off if need be. Testing like this is probably best for the more experienced people or professionals. Hub was $ 125 at Autozone.

Thanks for posting back how it went and the fix.