bad wheel bearing?

[frusciante fan]

after 50 mph i can hear a high pitched humming noise coming from the driver's front. it is not very loud though, and you have to concentrate to hear it, but it is there. around 70 mph it seems to turn into a lower, deeper noise. accellerating and braking do not affect it. the noise becomes audible when you are turning (50+ mph), and it is not bias towards left or right.

i jacked up each tire one at a time and there was no extra play in wheels. however, even with the car in neutral, the was some resistance when i turned the tire manually (because both wheels were not off the ground at the same time??). when i pushed the driver's front tire backwards, i did hear a sqeaking noise sometimes.

in a parking lot i did another test. with the steering wheel turned all the way to the right, it felt like the wheel was rubbing or something was not right. with the steering wheel turned all the way to the left, everything seemed normal. i have already checked for debris/crap that could be rubbing on the tire, and there is nothing.

2,500 miles ago i replaced the other front bearing. i think this one may be starting to go bad. it is difficult to explain though because there are no really loud noises, and the car still drives straight and turns fine. basically i have some on and off noise at 50+ mph, and when i turn a sharp right at slow speeds the driver's front tire feels like it is rubbing/grinding.

[frusciante fan]

Re: bad wheel bearing?

well i just got done replacing the bearing and took it for a test drive. i believe i can hear the noise still. the humming seems to start after the car has been driven 1 mile or so. so maybe the bad part is taking a while to warm up? at any rate the sound is still hard to hear. it seems like you could almost hear it not because it's there, but because your mind is telling you it's there.

i decided since it's sunday and i've been ****ing around all day to call it quits. i'll leave the new hub assembly on till tomorrow night or tuesday and swap it with the old one. Advance said i could return it if turns out that doesn't fix problem.

if putting the old one back in has no effect, i think i'll just wait to see if i get any other clue. because basically all i have is a slight humming noise. and it's not like i'm doing offroad racing or autocross so i think it's safe to wait...

at least now i know how to change hub assemblies and other brakes parts. and i didn't have to pay anybody to do this job. plus i can return the part. damn, i'm so badass.

later boredom and curiousity overcame me. i jacked up the other side and took off the rotor/caliper. no extra play in the hub assembly. spins just fine and is noise free.