99 3rd Gen- Correct way to diagnose if front & rear wheel bearings are bad?

[hawkcharmer]

I'm hearing a slight humming sound at certain speeds..
I've pulled wheel and checked for play and getting some at 3 & 6.
I believe this is due to my tie rods tho.
I also spun rotor with tire off and can hear my pads slightly rubbing the rotor and the wheel is not spinning freely when jacked up.

Do i need to have both passenger/ driver side on jack stands to diagnose this correctly?
Should front wheels spin freely when jacked up?
Should I remove caliper and rotor?

Also, How would I go about inspecting the rears?

Truck has original bearings with 220,000

Any feedback greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[ajonesnv]

I can't speak to the proper way to diagnose bear issues, but I would start with the simple stuff like tire balancing and rotation. The rear bearings typically cause the rear seals to go bad, so if you are not leaking gear oil you should be good in the rear.

One of my older trucks front bearing went out and there was no mistaking the problem. The front has many causes for wobble, so you may have to rule out each ball joint before landing on the bearing.

 

[BlackCat914]

An easy way to diag wheel bearings is to load that side of the suspension while driving. For example, making a gradual left turn at speed will load the right side of the suspension. If the noise gets louder in either direction, you know what side to focus on. I normally diag bearings with a mechanics stethoscope while it's on a lift and someone is maintaining a constant speed.

 

[hawkcharmer]

Thanks guys... I just finished up doing a front end check, pulled both front wheels and calipers and hand spun the rotors. I noticed the driver side has a very faint clicking sound in both directions, but no grinding. The sound is very faint barely noticeable. I hope thats not a bearing starting to go out. I did have a bad lower ball joint on that side for quite some time.

 

[BlackCat914]

Thanks guys... I just finished up doing a front end check, pulled both front wheels and calipers and hand spun the rotors. I noticed the driver side has a very faint clicking sound in both directions, but no grinding. The sound is very faint barely noticeable. I hope thats not a bearing starting to go out. I did have a bad lower ball joint on that side for quite some time.

You generally can't spin a bearing fast enough by hand to get it to make noise. Sometimes if seen them have a bit more resistance than a good bearing though.