I hope you all can help me with this. The past three days my cars developed a noise that I can best describe as sounding like a tire on a 4X4 with real aggesive treads flying down the highway. Anyway sounds like the front wheel bearing to me. I have the Chiltons repair manual but it doesn't list anything in there about inspecting/replacing the front bearings. I don't want to tear into it without good step by step directions on what to do or not to do next. I welcome any input.

David

 

You will need a press to get these out of the Hub once you remove the hub from the car. And it sounds like it is your wheel bearings going bad.

 

murrays discount auto is a good site to find parts . i had my rear go and i just purchased the rear hub assembly but the fronts are harder to do and u will need a press. look into a new unit might be easier to just replace the whole unit

 

Yeah. I've went through the whole "Press in/out" front bearings.. they are a PITA to say the least. If you have access to a press like these other gentlemen have already suggested the process is relatively easy. But my experiences arn't favorable because I didn't have a press. I ended up just going to a junkyard and buying a whole front hub assembly.

 

Ouch Isakill. Also matt if you go the whole front hub assy. you will have to go to a junkyard. The whole bearing and hub assy isnt available together. But be careful buying junkyard bearings too.

 

100% agree with this post.
If anything jack up the front whichever side you're getting and put the car in neutral if you can. spin that wheel and see if you can hear anything abnormal.
I was lucky. I managed to get a assembly off of a car that was freshly put in the yard and was still running.

 

My 98 Neon I just bought also has this loud noise that sounds like an aggressive 4x4 tire going down the road. Everyone thinks it is a wheel bearing, but when I jack up the car I can't hear the noise when I spin the hub. They both spin freely. The sound only shows up when the car is going about 20 mph or faster. It goes away while you are turning to the right. All of the axles seem solid also. Brakes are also not the problem. I can't tell which side the noise is coming from. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

 

Probably still your wheel bearings, you said 20mph or faster. Something tells me you don't have the ability to spin your wheels that fast by hand and still be able to listen.