wheel bearing check?

[freshley]

I have a vibration and steering wheel shimmy at about 60mph and above and I'm trying to figure out what is causing it. It seemed to start when I got new tires put on. They have balanced them twice and I still have the vibration. I have 200k on the odo so I'm wondering if it could be a wheel bearing but I have no idea how to check it on these things. I replaced the shocks, lower ball joints and inner and outer tie rod ends about 6 months ago so the only thing left is the upper ball joints or wheel bearings.
Next step is taking it to the stealer but I really don't want to do that!

 

[Brian757]

One way to diagnose wheel bearing issues is to take your tire off, take the caliper and rotor off, and just spin the hub. Listen closely. You will hear grinding and it will be obvious. The ball joint will be suspension related. So bouncing and articulation will create sounds.

With our wheel bearings, you have to press them out to remove them. It sucks. I believe you need ~6 ton stationary press.

The cheaper and more common way of doing it (here at least), would be to remove upper/lower ball joints and bring your hubs out to a shop to press in.

 

[JayRolla]

An easier way to check is lift the front off ground. Try to shake the tire back and forth and if there is any play then you know you have bad bearings. If its solid then to the sound test to see if they sound bad. If it happened after tires, I would have them balanced a third time at a different tire shop just to make sure. Just would make sense if they just did the tires.

 

[JWaldz]

If you jack the tire up off the ground, grab the tire at 12 and 6, and like [MENTION=50342]JayRolla[/MENTION] said, try to rock it back and forth there should be no play at all. If there is, it's an indication of the wheel bearing going out. If there is a lot of play, it's done for. you can also have someone rotate the tire and listen for grinding sounds if you don't want to take everything apart. Keep in mind, a generous portion of side to side play is usually an indication of a bad inner tie rod. Which can cause vibrations at specific speeds, usually around 50-60 mph. They may be new but doesn't stop a part from prematurely expiring from not being made correctly.

 

[Nelsonmd]

If you jack the tire up off the ground, grab the tire at 12 and 6, and like [MENTION=50342]JayRolla[/MENTION] said, try to rock it back and forth there should be no play at all. If there is, it's an indication of the wheel bearing going out. If there is a lot of play, it's done for. you can also have someone rotate the tire and listen for grinding sounds if you don't want to take everything apart. Keep in mind, a generous portion of side to side play is usually an indication of a bad inner tie rod. Which can cause vibrations at specific speeds, usually around 50-60 mph. They may be new but doesn't stop a part from prematurely expiring from not being made correctly.

Isn't that really just going to check his TRE's?

If your bearings are going out, then you should have some humming while driving. It may only be during certain speed ranges, but you should have a cyclical humming or grinding noise. I have had that on both my 4runner (both front and rear) and on my old grand am. If you still think a front bearing is going, you can check out my build thread for an idea of what goes into replacing the bearings. It is doable if you have a press, or you could take it into a shop as stated.

 

[JWaldz]

Isn't that really just going to check his TRE's?

If your bearings are going out, then you should have some humming while driving. It may only be during certain speed ranges, but you should have a cyclical humming or grinding noise. I have had that on both my 4runner (both front and rear) and on my old grand am. If you still think a front bearing is going, you can check out my build thread for an idea of what goes into replacing the bearings. It is doable if you have a press, or you could take it into a shop as stated.

The test may not work 100% of the time but trying to see if there is any back and forth play by rocking it at 12 and 6 is a good way of telling if the bearing is going out. There should be ZERO play. No other components should affect 12 and 6 back and forth play. Yes, on a typical dead bearing it should cause humming and/or grinding noises. Sometimes you can hear it when you drive, depends how bad the bearing is. Like I said, it's a easy way of telling. It may not work all the time and you may just have to start disassembling things to get to the source.

 

[Nelsonmd]

The test may not work 100% of the time but trying to see if there is any back and forth play by rocking it at 12 and 6 is a good way of telling if the bearing is going out. There should be ZERO play. No other components should affect 12 and 6 back and forth play. Yes, on a typical dead bearing it should cause humming and/or grinding noises. Sometimes you can hear it when you drive, depends how bad the bearing is. Like I said, it's a easy way of telling. It may not work all the time and you may just have to start disassembling things to get to the source.

Oh wait, 3 and 9 would be TRE's, 6 and 12 is how you test the LBJ. I agree that with a good LBJ you may be able to detect a bad bearing, but only if the LBJ is good, otherwise you aren't sure if it is the LBJ or the bearing causing play, right?

I still think the most obvious symptom should be humming while driving. I don't know if it is 100%, but both times (on 2 different cars) that I have had failed bearings, I had very similar cyclical humming.

Personally, I wouldn't tear apart the hub until I had humming, vibration, or some other obvious symptom. Certainly play at 12 and 6 is a reason to disassemble it, but it might just be the LBJ.