Wheel bearing going ?

[ColoradoSilverado]

I have this sound which seems to be coming from the front wheel(s). Hard to describe the sound but I would guess a wheel bearing, truck is at 177,000 miles now. I jacked it up and rotated the front wheels but couldn't hear/feel anything unusual. What's the best way to find out if the wheel bearing is bad ?

Bert

2000 1500 Z71, 5.3 ext. cab, long bed.

[tempfixit]

Do you notice a change in sound when during a corner? If so, when you turn left the right wheel bearing bears the load and vice versa.

You could jack front end , remove wheel, caliper and rotor to see if you have any play when you try moving the hub by placing hands at 12 oclock and 6 oclock and see if you have any movement in bearing and turn hub slowly to feel for rough spots.

Hope this helps

[j cAT]

because of the design used in this vehicle any wheel bearing failure will cause abs/braking problems very quickly.....

since you also have leaking front dif problems of an unknown amount... I would say the front dif may be damaged and need be overhauled /replaced

[ColoradoSilverado]

Originally Posted by tempfixit

Do you notice a change in sound when during a corner? If so, when you turn left the right wheel bearing bears the load and vice versa.

You could jack front end , remove wheel, caliper and rotor to see if you have any play when you try moving the hub by placing hands at 12 oclock and 6 oclock and see if you have any movement in bearing and turn hub slowly to feel for rough spots.

Hope this helps

Will try that tomorrow, I'll let you know how or what.

Bert

[sierra99]

I have a 99 silverado z71 ext and had a whining sound from my front end at 35 mph and up. Turning left to right had no effect on the sound or pitch. I also had a leaky drivers side differential seal. When I replaced the front driver seal, I pulled the caliper and then turned the wheel bearing. I also went to the auto parts store beforehand and tried turning the new bearing. My original bearings had a slight rubbing sound (sounded like a rubbing brake pad), there was absolutely no movement from 12 to 6 movement. I replaced both from az (Timkens) $119 a piece and there was a 100% percent improvement. They are now both replaced and no sound at all from the front. Front driver seal was pretty easy to replace also. I would do both while I had the truck torn down to that point. Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps.

[sierra99]

forgot to mention, I changed them out at 148,000 miles. Nice tuck, I have the same but a 99 and short bed.

Tell us what you found to be the problem..

[kahjdh]

Get up to about 35-40 mph on a OPEN road and swerve left and right. If you notice that the sound gets quieter one way more than another it will tell you what bearing is bad. They get quieter when there is a load on them so when you turn right the weight is on the left and visa versa. Post back what you find.

[ukrkoz]

Originally Posted by tempfixit

Do you notice a change in sound when during a corner? If so, when you turn left the right wheel bearing bears the load and vice versa.

You could jack front end , remove wheel, caliper and rotor to see if you have any play when you try moving the hub by placing hands at 12 oclock and 6 o'clock and see if you have any movement in bearing and turn hub slowly to feel for rough spots.

Hope this helps

why do you need to replace wheel, and all the caboodle? simply jack the side, get your hands on 12 and six, and push/pull vigorously. if you have play or clunk, it's your bearing. If you have play or clunk with hands on 3 and 9, it's your tierods and tierod ends. GM says to replace hub with presence of ANY play in bearing.
It's roughly $170 for the hub, a large socket rented from a parts store, and about 20 minutes "on your knees" labor.

[J-Ri]

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

simply jack the side, get your hands on 12 and six, and push/pull vigorously. if you have play or clunk, it's your bearing.

A noisy wheel bearing isn't always loose (but will usually feel rough turning it by hand), and a loose wheel bearing doesn't always make noise. The best thing to do is replace them in pairs (since they are identical left and right, and have very close to the same mileage on them). About 95% of the time, if you turn left and the noise increases, the right wheel bearing is bad (and vice-versa)