How to test if wheel bearing or transmission?

Oaktree · Jul 15, 2014

Clint S said:
Those GM hubs are just prone to failure. I have changed 20 or 30 of them over the years. Got it down to a science. Cars, trucks, SUV's does not matter. Over 50k on them is doing good

Not just GM, I had a Turdra for a company vehicle on my last job, 50K was about it for wheel bearings (front and rear) on that too. It's just one of those things they've cheapened up on in the 2000s.

Dutch445 · Jul 15, 2014

i've owned 4 tundras since 2001, and never changed a wheel bearing.
oil, filters, tires, and brakes on those i kept long enough...
maybe it's time to trade my 010 in at 65K before they go bad???

ray66v · Jul 16, 2014

Front wheel bearings are easy to check with a swerve test.

Drive down a deserted road, swerving from side to side quickly.

If the noise is effected, it is a wheel bearing. Or, If it is a GM car, just assume it is a wheel bearing, because it is.

Also, if it is a GM car, just replace both of them now, because the other one is going to fail soon too.

mfreund · Jul 16, 2014

Use a Timkin, not a store brand. Auto zone bearings last about a week longer than the warranty.

JCByrd24 · Jul 16, 2014

I will agree that wheel bearing is much more likely than trans bearing. If it's making noise on the road it will usually be pretty obvious once jacked up which side it is, though easy to confuse with noise of pad over rotor. A bad one will turn too easily and will have a noise sort of like a lazy susan and you can almost feel it, a good one will have more resistance and you'll just hear the pad rubbing on the rotor. Bad one will also usually wiggle with hands at 0 and 6 on the tire.

Yukon Tyler · Sep 4, 2014

jack up both sides of the front end on jack stands. jack the rear as well if it's AWD. have a helper run the car to highway speed while you listen to the bearings with a $10 stethoscope. put your scope on the rear of the knuckles, right behind the bearings. the groan from the bad one(s) will be obvious, while good ones will run smooth and nearly silent. don't forget to check the intermediate shaft bearing while you're down there, and if it's AWD then mind the centre bearing on the prop shaft, the rear wheel bearings and the viscous coupler (if applicable).

FWIW, i'm a Ford master tech. this is how it gets done in the shop on a daily basis.

melmark · Sep 4, 2014

Oaktree said:
Something no one's suggested yet is tires. If your tires are worn funny they can make noises that can sound like a bearing.

Does the noise change when you steer in one direction or the other? Usually a bad wheel bearing will change in pitch if you do that.

I second this opinion as the first thing to try. My Ford Ranger was making a howl/ whine that sounded just like a wheel bearing. The tires looked good to me and I took it to my local mechanic. He checked the front end and told me the wheel bearings are within tolerance and he suggests rotating the tires. I thought "no way" but rotated the tires next weekend and the noise was gone. I felt like a fool for taking it to him, he was right on

Mark

2LaneCruzer · Sep 4, 2014

Yep. My Ford F-150 4X4 requires regular tire rotation else you get the road noise as the front tires seem to wear unevenly. As for wheel bearings, I almost always detected them when driving slowly, next to a curb or on a bridge or such where the clicking sound of a bad bearing can be heard, usually with the window down.

mikehaugen · Sep 4, 2014

ray66v said:
Also, if it is a GM car, just replace both of them now, because the other one is going to fail soon too.

Absolutely. My impala had a bad bearing around 130k so I changed it. I changed the wrong one and ended up putting the one I took off on the other side trying to be cheap. 5 weeks later it made the exact same noise.

ray66v · Sep 4, 2014

mikehaugen said:
Absolutely. My impala had a bad bearing around 130k so I changed it. I changed the wrong one and ended up putting the one I took off on the other side trying to be cheap. 5 weeks later it made the exact same noise.

I have seen that a lot.

I had a friend that had one fail on his wife's Impala, and I told him to replace both of them. About 3 weeks later, the other one started making lots of noise, when she was 600 miles away from home.

Always replace both springs on a garage door too. The same thing happens if you don't.