Either my tires are wearing down, or I have a front wheel bearing starting to go. I'm starting to hear a noise that sounds like the edge of bald tires feathering against the road, or my wheel bearings are going. Sound changes a bit in corners. Barely discernible right now, but I'm pretty in tune with my truck. I'm going to rotate the tires today and do what I can to check symptoms. My truck is 2WD.

Wheel bearings were last replaced in 2011 at 196K, so these AMs lasted roughly 80K. Wanted to know what bearings you guys have used and how long they lasted. OEMs are pricey. I'm mulling these Timkens....

Timken HA599528

 

I used Timken in 2013 no problems yet be sure to use a torque wrench they wear fast if you don't.

 

I rotated the tires yesterday, but haven't driven enough to tell if it made an improvement. Almost time for tires too. *Sigh*

 

I've used timken also good for 20K now. I think I bought them from rockauto.

 

Well, rotating didn't make any difference. The noise is very low level, nothing a passenger would notice. There is a slight increase to it on sweeping left turns. After a 23 mile drive on the highway today, I immediately jacked it up and felt the back of each front hub, right where the bearings reside. Both felt the same. They were lukewarm to the touch... very cool actually. So, that kinda leaves me unsure.

 

Something to look at... I don't know what kind of tires you have but it may be worth a shot. Does it only happen when turning one way? I do shady eyeball alignments on my durango because it's never held an alignment when I spend the money anyway so I do it myself and make small adjustments until I'm happy with it. Anyway, on to my point. If your camber adjustment is starting to go (negative or positive i don't remember) top of the tire leaning out, you can definitely get a noise especially when turning because the outer tread is biting at the ground and in a sense "rolling" to more of your side tread or sidewall than it should be. Again, just a possibility. I've noticed that on my durango with my mud tires.

 

i'd check out your tie rods and ball joins. easy to do. jack up the tire and push the tire left and right for the tie rod and top and bottom for ball joints. if she's got wiggle you got parts to order

 

Thanks, guys. The alignment was done over a year ago and as far as I can tell, it tracks pretty good on the highway. It is usually the loudest in left turns and it seems to be the passenger side. The tires are reaching the end of service life, but again, rotating back to front made no difference in the symptoms.

I installed new ball joints over a year ago and checked the tie rods too. That's when I had the alignment done. Front end is pretty firm.

 

could be just older tires....

when my wheel bearing went it sounded like crunching at first, like rotor rust...that then quickly turned to grinding.

It never made the humm and drone I thought it would, so I got fooled.

but you just have some tire or bearing noise. Does the bearing feel at all like its not smooth if you rotate the wheel by hand? you said it felt normal and not overly hot......

if it does not wander at all then tie rods are probably okay, but I would check them anyway....caster camber issues with ball joints could be a possibility.

I say tire noise from the harder compound down near the bottom of usable tread.

JP

 

Hard to tell due to the slight brake drag and noise of pads brushing against rotor. They pretty much sounded the same way when I spun em. I think I would have to remove the caliper or the pads at least, to get a true feel.


I'm not discounting the tires being an issue. Just that I rotated and heard no difference. They are wearing pretty evenly, so that might be why. I'm running with it for now, to see if it will get worse.