Front wheel bearing hub assembly?

[wolfox03SS]

Bearings tend to moan and groan and change pitch and rumble tone with road speed. If the wheel deflects and knocks around on the lift, but otherwise is silent when at cruise?

Suspect steering, joint/link, knuckle & suspension component wear first. If you're needing to save cash and didn't already lose your shirt at the primary mechanic's shop?

Seek a second opinion.

Neither are very expensive repairs... relatively speaking. But if you're anything like me? You're skint. The wallet is very thin these days and you can't sink cash into a non-definite repair.

 

[DR1]

This doesn't add up. The mechanic found play by moving the wheel, yet you don't detect any problem while driving. If the play was so bad it could be detected by moving the wheel, it should have made plenty of noise while driving. I suspect the mechanic misdiagnosed the problem and only detected play in the suspension.

It was making a loose rattling sound while he was shaking from side to side.

 

[DR1]

Bearings tend to moan and groan and change pitch and rumble tone with road speed. If the wheel deflects and knocks around on the lift, but otherwise is silent when at cruise?

Suspect steering, joint/link, knuckle & suspension component wear first. If you're needing to save cash and didn't already lose your shirt at the primary mechanic's shop?

Seek a second opinion.

Neither are very expensive repairs... relatively speaking. But if you're anything like me? You're skint. The wallet is very thin these days and you can't sink cash into a non-definite repair.

Yes sir. Money is SKINT!

 

[wolfox03SS]

It was making a loose rattling sound while he was shaking from side to side.

Couch-mechanic me is thinking heavily on having a steering link or some sort of idle steering link joint or even just the steering box being worn.

Someone has to waggle that wheel side to side & watch for what's going click-a-click or knocking back and forth.

Seriously, a bad hub makes an AWFUL moaning racket that sounds worse on the opposite side you're turning on as vehicle weight is thrown that way... in most cases. In some vehicles it can even potentially throw an ABS error code as the wheel bearing/spacing falls so out of spec? It no longer sees your magnetic tone wheel.

 

[DR1]

Would'nt that be something if I got the job done asap and come to find out it was something else that wasn't needing done so quickly?

 

[DerbyDave]

To all those saying that it would make noise or you would feel it if it was bad that is not always true. I have had bearings fail that felt tight and made a horrible noise and I have had them fail and were noticeably loose when checked but were completely silent and undetectable in normal driving. It all depends on the vehicle and specific failure

 

[wolfox03SS]

Would'nt that be something if I got the job done asap and come to find out it was something else that wasn't needing done so quickly?

It's a gamble, depends on how good your tech is on doing it right the first time.

To all those saying that it would make noise or you would feel it if it was bad that is not always true. I have had bearings fail that felt tight and made a horrible noise and I have had them fail and were noticeably loose when checked but were completely silent and undetectable in normal driving. It all depends on the vehicle and specific failure

If you spin a wheel, tire up and it grinds? Also a sign of a rough bearing. Just be positive it's not the normal, light contact your brakes make with drums/rotors.

Since the OP states it's only a side-2-side wiggle-n-klunk when checked? Is not the bearing hub...

A hub goes all sorts of bad on all directions when shot without visible play on steering and suspension bits.

 

[DR1]

How about this you all? https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=12029597&cc=1440266&pt=1636&jsn=413

 

[wolfox03SS]

How about this you all? https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=12029597&cc=1440266&pt=1636&jsn=413

[EDIT:] Ball joint wear can be hard to muscle by hand to test for too. I find in many cases, that can be discovered with a slightly different technique in the driveway:

Tires on, Jack and stabilize the suspect side only about 2" off the ground. Wedging the tip of a crowbar under the tire halfway under and giving it a good pull up can reveal a bad ball joint. It helps to have a partner do the muscle work as you look top and bottom on the joints/ control arms, but not impossible to do yourself.

Again, I have my guts saying that the side to side flex is steering component wear.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

This doesn't add up. The mechanic found play by moving the wheel, yet you don't detect any problem while driving. If the play was so bad it could be detected by moving the wheel, it should have made plenty of noise while driving. I suspect the mechanic misdiagnosed the problem and only detected play in the suspension.

Not true. I have been through many of the cartridge bearings on my own and others vehicles that I have repaired. They will make noise eventually but sometimes play shows up first. Especially if you have a/t or m/t tires. I’ve had them make the classical rumble noise, clicking noise and no noticeable noise but have play and any combo. With a little play it will last a month. I wouldn’t recommend it but I’ve seen people go months and they are scary bad when they finally get it fixed.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

View attachment 87122
[EDIT:] Ball joint wear can be hard to muscle by hand to test for too. I find in many cases, that can be discovered with a slightly different technique in the driveway:

Tires on, Jack and stabilize the suspect side only about 2" off the ground. Wedging the tip of a crowbar under the tire halfway under and giving it a good pull up can reveal a bad ball joint. It helps to have a partner do the muscle work as you look top and bottom on the joints/ control arms, but not impossible to do yourself.

Again, I have my guts saying that the side to side flex is steering component wear.

I like to use the 5’ long digging bar as a lever to test ball joints. I can’t get an accurate read by hand.

 

[wolfox03SS]

I like to use the 5’ long digging bar as a lever to test ball joints. I can’t get an accurate read by hand.

Yeah, especially on heavy SUV's, full size sedans and even light duty trucks. My SS Silverado has 100lbs. wheels with carcass mounted. Very rough to do "wiggle test" on your back or elevated above your shoulders on a lift. So like you, I find something to stuff up and pry under the wheel to see if it deflects vertically.

Reach a paw under a Toyota and grasp the suspect part. If it just clicks, you found it.

(Kidding, everyone)

I did fix sway bar links just recently for a neighbor on their Matrix. On the ground, couldn't find the yap-a-tappity-rap. Once I suspended the front end completely? You could touch only the lower part of the sway links and they'd click. Replaced both links and the bar bushings. Noise completely canceled. It was a cheap fix despite using Toyota OEM parts. Though I did charge enough for a new, reasonably priced pneumatic cut-off tool and a pack of discs for it...I had to sheer hardware off from an up north, salt winter driven car.

Pssssst! A new project is always a good excuse to buy a new power tool!

 

[Kestas]

It was making a loose rattling sound while he was shaking from side to side.

But where was the movement seen?

 

[swampdodo]

To all those saying that it would make noise or you would feel it if it was bad that is not always true. I have had bearings fail that felt tight and made a horrible noise and I have had them fail and were noticeably loose when checked but were completely silent and undetectable in normal driving. It all depends on the vehicle and specific failure

Yes.

Example...my '08 Sorento...at about 150K...had to replace front driver side wheel bearing...not unibearing, but pressed in type. Anyway, no noises...didn't know I had a bad bearing until one day during routine maintenance and checks. I had the front end up in the air and did the wheel shake check at 3/9 and 12/6...nothing on 3/9 but had some movement at 12/6. It wasn't either ball joints, it was the bearing. Again, no noticeable noises.

About 35k later...started hearing rumbling noises at driver front...same side where bearing was replaced earlier. Noise changed with speed of vehicle. Jacked up the front and did the checks at 3/9 and 12/6...nothing, nadda. But it was definitely the wheel bearing. Side note...I will never buy wheel bearings from Amazon again. Bough a National brand locally. Forgot to add, you could hear it with the wheel in the air and turning it by hand.

So yeah, it depends.