Hello all. I am having an issue. I replaced my driver's front wheel bearing and the noise is still there. As I drive, when the weight is shifted to the right side, there's no noise. On the left side and static driving, there's a noise indicating a bad wheel bearing. I replaced the LF hub assembly twice and the noise persists. I also rotated the tires and still, the noise remains.

Any ideas? My dad (35 year ASE Master) said it's the RF bearing. I'm inclined to agree due to the RF being the only other one left.

 

At your mileage. Definitely time. Agree replace the right side.

 

I'd check ball joints & tie rod ends as well for slop.

Also check your lug nuts lol Its an obvious but often overlooked detail that almost killed me when I bought my 97 Ram. It had all the symptoms of a wheel bearing and the person I bought it from said it needed one so I figured where there was smoke there was fire...2 days after buying the truck the rim flew off at 65mph on the highway in front of 2 semi trucks. Needless to say I check my lugs all the time.

The good news was that I didn't panic and I drove the truck a half mile on 3 wheels at 70mph to stay ahead of the semi trucks until I could exit the highway. Thank God the 360 has such good torque!

 

Wow...scary stuff.

I shake down the front end periodically. I have already changed both lower ball joints. As suggested by the first response, I'll just change the other one when I get the funds.

 

It gets sketchy lol

Most of the time if a wheel bearing is in the danger zone on most vehicles you can tell and its very obvious and you'll have quite a bit of time to prepare to change it. I went 8 months on my Neon, putting on 200 miles a week to work before I had time and got sick of the noise. Trucks are a bit more subtle to wheel bearing noises than cars are in my experience (maybe because the weight). Was driving my sisters 2000 Ram at 75mph on the highway and the passengers side front wheel bearing let loose and the truck did quite a zig zag on the highway. It sounds like I've been unlucky with this kind of thing, but I'm very fortunate that I was driving both times instead of someone else because I don't ever really panic when I drive and get into trouble.

If you suspect a wheel bearing on a truck, change it asap. On a car you can get away with even the most horrible grinding for weeks if not months. When I bought my Hemi Ram it drove great for 2 days and it went without notice or symptoms, the only symptom I heard & felt was the top A arm & ball joint area grinding into the tire & cutting into it.

Replace with a Timken Bearing, they're cheaper and stronger than the Autozone or O'Reilly bearings, Plus they're tapered so that they can withstand side loading around corners, which is why the flat bearing styles of the Parts store stock brands fail within a year like clock work.

 

Huh. Just replaced both my fronts with O'Reilly hubs. Distinct noise while cornering hard at speed. Probably the new bearings just uh, grinding into dust then. Good to know.

 

Pretty much, you've probably got a few months of reliable use left in them. When you compare that Timken bearing to the O'Reilly bearing you'll laugh at what a joke the O'Reilly brand of wheel bearing is. The casting is thicker, its beefier and just smoother bearing roll, it instantly inspires confidence.