Terrible road noise, bearing?

[cutchemist42]

Cliffnotes:

2003 Mazda Protege5

-Went for 4 hour road trip last weekend to cabin, involved 2 hours of driving on dirt road.
-Had a rear tire go flat, driver read, used tire repair kit
-Drove home fine, no bad noises
-Car sat for 4 days until I needed to drive again (I bus to work)
-Terrible road noise, gets louder with speed, with sligt metally noises at low speed with window open
-Sounds like its coming from front driver side area.

Thanks for any help!!!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Could be a wheel bearing. I've lost a wheel bearing after a long road trip more than once.

If it is a drivers side wheel bearing, at speed, the noise will get louder during a right turn and quieter during a left turn; if there is more weight on that wheel bearing it will get louder.

 

[Donald]

While it certainly could be, more investigation is needed. Put the vehicle on a lift or jack it up and spin the wheel. Do as Miller88 suggested.

 

[cutchemist42]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Could be a wheel bearing. I've lost a wheel bearing after a long road trip more than once.

If it is a drivers side wheel bearing, at speed, the noise will get louder during a right turn and quieter during a left turn; if there is more weight on that wheel bearing it will get louder.


It is noticeably louder during a right now that you mention that.....I'll still lift the car up.

 

[Bryankkkk]

lol saw this posted on /r/mechanicadvice

 

[Trav]

If it turns out to be a wheel bearing (it sounds like it is) you will probably need a shop to do this job unless your handy with a hydraulic press, the front bearings are pressed in.

 

[cutchemist42]

Originally Posted By: Bryankkkk
lol saw this posted on /r/mechanicadvice


I didn't even know that reddit existed until today, haha!

 

[cutchemist42]

Originally Posted By: Trav
If it turns out to be a wheel bearing (it sounds like it is) you will probably need a shop to do this job unless your handy with a hydraulic press, the front bearings are pressed in.


I've replaced the whole wheel hub before, complete with a wheel bearing already in it. I don't have access to a press however. Will I save money if I bring in just the hub, or would they still try to get a bit of money for the press job?

 

[another Todd]

Could be brakes, either worn out (metal to metal) or dust/dirt from the dirt roads in the pads making the noise. Jack up the wheel, remove the tire and take a look. You can push the pads off the rotor then spin the hub to see if noise is still present, indicating wheel bearing.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: cutchemist42
Originally Posted By: Trav
If it turns out to be a wheel bearing (it sounds like it is) you will probably need a shop to do this job unless your handy with a hydraulic press, the front bearings are pressed in.


I've replaced the whole wheel hub before, complete with a wheel bearing already in it. I don't have access to a press however. Will I save money if I bring in just the hub, or would they still try to get a bit of money for the press job?


You replaced a front hub of this car before?
The rears use bolt in one piece hubs but AFAIK the wheel bearing is pressed into the knuckle on this one, you dont want to swap the knuckle.

 

[Kestas]

It does sound like a wheel bearing with the exception that I would expect the noise to build up gradually, and not noiseless for the trip, then all of a sudden next day it's a terrible noise.

Can you switch the tires side-to-side to see if the noise moves with the tires?

 

[artificialist]

You could just buy a new bearing and take your old knuckle to an auto repair place or an automotive machinist. They might change $20-$25 to do it.

It would be quite a savings compared to having a mechanic do it all.

Don't buy a cheap bearing. 1 year from now, you will be doing the same job again.

Carefully mark the position of the steering knuckle to the strut. If you don't, the camber and the rest of the alignment will be wrong, and you will be stuck buying a wheel alignment.

 

[DrDusty86]

I've had a Timkin come appart in 50 miles on the rear of my car. Yes, most are gradual but some aren't mine was perfectly quiet then buzzing like crazy. No I don't hit potholes or drive baja style.

 

[cutchemist42]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: cutchemist42
Originally Posted By: Trav
If it turns out to be a wheel bearing (it sounds like it is) you will probably need a shop to do this job unless your handy with a hydraulic press, the front bearings are pressed in.


I've replaced the whole wheel hub before, complete with a wheel bearing already in it. I don't have access to a press however. Will I save money if I bring in just the hub, or would they still try to get a bit of money for the press job?


You replaced a front hub of this car before?
The rears use bolt in one piece hubs but AFAIK the wheel bearing is pressed into the knuckle on this one, you dont want to swap the knuckle.


Yeah, believe it or not I used to have a bent knuckle on this car. I know it wasnt me, but no one else in my family owned yp to it. However, the strut was replaced yet still the car would now align so thats why the knuckle was next.

 

[cutchemist42]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
It does sound like a wheel bearing with the exception that I would expect the noise to build up gradually, and not noiseless for the trip, then all of a sudden next day it's a terrible noise.

Can you switch the tires side-to-side to see if the noise moves with the tires?


Yeah I'll try that tonight before deciding to order the part.

 

[cutchemist42]

Well I finally got around to doing this. Pulled off the whole hub assembly and the bearing does not sound bad at all. There's no rubmling/marbley sounds at all, just smooth. Is this possible? I mean, it fails the swerve test badly and sounds like a bad rubmle while driving.

 

[JamesBond]

I had a bad rear wheel bearing in a Civic that was loud at speed and louder during cornering in one direction.

When I removed the bearing and was spinning it by hand you could barely tell that it was bad. Only when compared side by side with a new one could you feel a small difference. I expected it to be rough/grindy and obviously bad judging from the noise it made, but you could barely tell.

The new bearing eliminated the noise. You've got it apart, you might as well replace it.

 

[spackard]

Originally Posted By: cutchemist42
Well I finally got around to doing this. Pulled off the whole hub assembly and the bearing does not sound bad at all. There's no rubmling/marbley sounds at all, just smooth. Is this possible? I mean, it fails the swerve test badly and sounds like a bad rubmle while driving.


It has to be really late into the failure of a bearing in order to hear the noise, in my opinion. Lubricant all dried out, followed by grinding metal.

Last week I pulled/replaced my rear hubs and bearings (242K miles). Both sounded very quiet up in the air, one had signs of oil leakage but race wasn't damaged nor were balls, new bearings and hubs made the rear of the car much quieter though. Still haven't found and solved the noise I was after, however.

 

[cutchemist42]

Well I got it all hooked up, and some of the noise went away but not all. It definitely passes the swerve test now. The noise is now only happening on straight travel. I'm going to assume the tire might be bad too....