wheel bearings

[3.4grandam]

i have a 2001 grand am v6 and i have a wierd sound comin from the front of my car and my abs tracs control and service vehicle soon lights are on. it sounds like metal grinding on something. people are telling me that its my bearings. if it is my bearings how much would it cost to fix, are they easy to put in like can i do it myself,and if i buy bearings do they come w/ 2 like for both front wheels.

[GTP Dad]

The bearings are part of a wheel hub assembly and must be bought seperately. You will need one for each side of the car. The job to do both sides will take an hour or two depending on whether you do it yourself or go to a shop. You will probably have far less hassles if you take it somewhere to be repaired and if you need to do both sides expect a bill of 4-500 dollars. If you do it yourself probably a couple of hundred for parts. Are you sure that this problem involves wheel bearings? It sounds like you may have brake problems which are extremely common to this year and model. I would investigate further before putting a lot of money in repairs that may not correct the problem.

[3.4grandam]

it didnt make the sound when i hit the brakes and u can here it rubbing and as soon as my dad took it for a ride he didnt even go 20 feet be4 he said he can hear the bearings r bad so i guess he knows what it sounds like

[Hoags]

Sounds more like a brake pad problem rather than bearings, I'd pull the front wheels and look at the pads. A lot of times when the pads are wearing out they will make noise and when you apply the brakes the noise quits. I believe that they are still using " Chirpers" as a warning system for low pads but I have had the brakes make a metal to metal grinding when the pads were just about shot. Like I say I'd check brakes first it's most likely the cheaper of the Two, and it doesn't cost anything to look them over.
Good luck

[3.4grandam]

i just put brand new brakes on the front so that wasnt it and i got the bearing changed yesterday and that solved the problem