symptoms of a bad wheel bearing?

[bigchevyz71]

What are some symptoms of a bad wheel bearing? I'm hearing a pulsating roaring sound from the front leafy of my 05 z71, thanks!

[newdude]

Sounds like one. If you turn left or right does the sound change or go away?

[Coby7]

If it sounds like you're sitting in the back of a plane it's the wheel bearing it will often kick up some ABS codes.

[Daryl Z71]

If it's making a growling noise that's more than likely the issue. Mine started activating the ABS and throwing the lights on when it was going out. The best thing to do would be to just jack up the front end and check each wheel for play.

[VikingTrad3r]

not sure if the z71 is awd but it can also be the carrier bearing in the front diff on an awd (like my 06 denali xl) or when in 4x4,.

[bigchevyz71]

Sounds like one. If you turn left or right does the sound change or go away?

It goes away

Sounds like one. If you turn left or right does the sound change or go away?

It goes away

If it's making a growling noise that's more than likely the issue. Mine started activating the ABS and throwing the lights on when it was going out. The best thing to do would be to just jack up the front end and check each wheel for play.

It doesn't throw any codes

If it sounds like you're sitting in the back of a plane it's the wheel bearing it will often kick up some ABS codes.

It doesn't throw any codes

[Coby7]

Yet...!!!

[Dnt]

Simplest check is to jack it up and rotate the wheel by hand and you can probably hear the roughness in the bearing....If you cannot hear it then grab the top and bottom and see if there is any play. If it passes both tests then drive it another 1000 or so miles and check again.

[diyer2]

Run it on the freeway for a while, hit an exit to be safe, jump out and feel the wheel/rim from edge to center for temp. Compare the two.

Jack up and test as mentioned.

[newdude]

If you do jack it up, they do make noise with little or no play in them. It is possible. If you shake it and its loose AF, you know which is bad for sure. If I remember right, if you turn left or right, the side that gets unloaded from the weight of the vehicle is the side that makes the noise. When you turn the other way, it will go away. So example, if you turn right and it makes noise, and you turn left and it goes away, its from the right front hub. If you turn left and it makes noise, then turn right and it goes away, its from the left front hub.

[Nanotech Environmental]

Having replaced these a number of times over the years, here are various symptoms I've seen & it's been different on each one. I've also used a number of different brands over the years, Delco, Timken & some off brands:

 

• Play in bearing, demonstrated by lifting that wheel off the ground, grabbing top and bottom of wheel and shaking in&out.
• Play in bearing demonstrated by turning hard and feeling the vehicle lurch a little toward the outer front wheel, showing the outer wheel to have a bad hub bearing
• Abs started going off at slow speeds on dry conditions with good traction, and gradually, over time, seeing the speeds increase at which the abs would trigger. There were no other symptoms in this case. Symptoms didn't go away til both bearings were replaced. On both of these hubs, I had added extra grease at some point via the ABS Sensor hole. These hubs lasted the longest of any hubs I've had so far, by a large margin.
• Hearing a growling noise that would noticeably change when turning a corner fairly hard. (this one was in common with point 2, above)
• Having no notice at all & have a caliper seize up co-incidentally at the same time, causing replacement of both a hub and brakes. This caused the brake and ABS warning light to come on, then the hub would make a horrible squawk every so often. This happened under warranty & the dealer service manager had the gall to try and blame it on me, saying I didn't maintain the brakes.....#$@^*& !!

Edited January 14, 2017 by 3beejay3

[VikingTrad3r]

thank you for this, I thought the noise I was hearing on the front driver side was my carrier bearing in the front differential of my 2006 Yukon XL Denali which is all-wheel-drive and have a reputation for noisy carrier bearings.

 

After going through effort of replacing a carrier bearing it did not make any change to the noise.

 

I checked and I have no movement in the 12 and 6 o'clock position, I also experience no different sounds when turning left or right, I get no movement in the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position. I get no vibration when I hit the tire well jacket with a rubber mallet.

 

So, I am not getting any of the typical symptoms of a toasted wheel bearing. Have you seen this? It is my last thing to try and change but I do not like being a parts swapper.

[bigchevyz71]

Sounds like one. If you turn left or right does the sound change or go away?

No sound when I turn it could just be excessive tire noise because I have trail graps but it sounded weird

[osteo16]

Probably wheel bearing... They will start slow but when they go it won't take long.. 200k on my Yukon and have changed front hubs twice, both at 100k.. They are pretty cheap and easy. As soon as I hear that whine, I just go ahead and swap em. My f250 had the whine, I didn't know what it was, 3 days later the hub gave.. Uggg..

[osteo16]

When you jack it up, it won't take much wobble top to bottom on the wiggle test.. It should be rock solid, even a millimeter of play probably means your bearing is going..