I have a 97 Ram 1500 5.2L V8 4x4. I had a new Cat and 02 sensor put in two weeks ago and the mechanic told me i would need a new FL bearing soon. Just this morning i was driving into work and heard a pretty load roaring (airplane) sound coming from the front right wheel. It stopped after 10 seconds but did it 3 more times on my 20 minute ride to work. Hub? Bearing? What do you think. I did not try the 12-6 test yet but i do get the wobbles when i stop. How long can i drive on this? I have a young child and this is my only vehicle. I do not want to risk locking up the wheel and having further issues. Any suggestions?

 

welcome to DF.

don't drive it any further until you check the tightness of the front wheels. with wheels on the ground - grab it at 12 oclock with both hands and shake it in/out with all your might. any play indicates its bad, but a minor motion of 1/16 inch won't immediately fall off. if there is a lot of play 1/8 inch or more, think about what to do. if there is an enormous amount 3/16 or more- park it.

what is an FL bearing?

 

Not to be a killjoy, but there is a reason your cat and o2 went bad. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...um-thread.html

 

My front wheel bearing didn't give me much warning. Came off exit going 80 and when got to a stop the wheel tipped sideways. don't wait to long.

 

I mean Front Left tire. I was told the bearing would need to be replaced soon. I am going to check the tire as soon as possible. I am getting it to a shop tomorrow night. That is the earliest i can have it looked at. I know its a risk everytime i take it on the road but its my only way to work.

 

Lift up the suspected tire, and make it spin and listen. Bad bearing may not have any play, but does make noise -> replace. I've also replaced unit bearings that didn't have play nor they made any noise, but when I worked out the brake drag and spinned the tire, it just kept turning compared to the other side which slowed down. If bearing is in good working condition and it has grease, it has some drag in it too which in turn slows the spinning tire down. That particular bearing I was working on had dried out, so it was just a miles away from failing. Probably that bearing did make noise under load, because customer wanted the bearings to be checked.

 

I jacked up the front tires and noticed that both tires have a good amount of play in them, the driver side having the most. I Looks like i need 2 new front wheel bearings and a front left U Joint. Any suggestions for bearings? Price range for the part?

 

I would go with Timken hub bearing assemblies. You can get them from Rock Auto and use the discount code available in the 2nd gen general discussion area. They are pretty heavy though, so shipping may knock the price out of the ballpark as apposed to getting them local.

 

verify the play is bearings and not ball joints. both are expensive.

for bearings, get the timkens and they'll cost about $160-180 each.

 

Yeah, get someone to apply brakes while you check the play. When brakes are applied and there's no play, it's the bearing. Otherwise there's a bad ball joint.

Take your time, and double check if necessary, so you don't end up doing what I did; I once got a roaring noise from driveline, first I assumed it's the support bearing on a rear d-shaft. I crawled under to check, and there were no radial play, so I moved on to check out the front axle. I found that RH bearing had little play, so I changed it. What do you know, noise was still there! I was in a hurry when I was checking things out, so I forgot to perform applied brake method. Would have saved some cash, because play was in a lower ball joint and noise actually came from support bearing.