Wheel bearing, CV, or diff?

[4ranover]

2000 4Runner - 4x4 - V6 - 132k

The usual: noise coming from the frontend. There's a humming when driving that gets louder with speed. The noise goes away when turning one direction (haven't driven the car in a while and I forgot which turning direction) so I suspect at least 1 wheel bad bearing.

I replaced the CVs when I bought the truck (old ones were shot), they have 10k on them now, so I assume they're good. That said, I did rip the boot on the passenger side.. it's tiny, but grease has come out. Could've ruined it but I'm not sure that's the source of these noises.

The drivers side CV has some play at the front diff interface, which I understand is normal, so I'm not sure if it's acceptable or possibly a source of noise.

Front diff is topped off.

I removed the wheels and brake calipers to get a better idea of the noises. I was hoping one side would sound good and the other obviously bad, but they're both making noises so now I'm confused.

Front driver wheel noise (light clicking)

Front passenger wheel noise (grinding)

The passenger sounds like a bad bearing to me, but now I'm wondering what's going on with the driver's side. Thoughts?

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

2000 4Runner - 4x4 - V6 - 132k

The usual: noise coming from the frontend. There's a humming when driving that gets louder with speed. The noise goes away when turning one direction (haven't driven the car in a while and I forgot which turning direction) so I suspect at least 1 wheel bad bearing.

I replaced the CVs when I bought the truck (old ones were shot), they have 10k on them now, so I assume they're good. That said, I did rip the boot on the passenger side.. it's tiny, but grease has come out. Could've ruined it but I'm not sure that's the source of these noises.

The drivers side CV has some play at the front diff interface, which I understand is normal, so I'm not sure if it's acceptable or possibly a source of noise.

Front diff is topped off.

I removed the wheels and brake calipers to get a better idea of the noises. I was hoping one side would sound good and the other obviously bad, but they're both making noises so now I'm confused.

Front driver wheel noise (light clicking)

Front passenger wheel noise (grinding)

The passenger sounds like a bad bearing to me, but now I'm wondering what's going on with the driver's side. Thoughts?

The passenger side is 100% a bad bearing. That's exactly the way mine sounded. Turn the rotor the way you are should be virtually silent and smooth. I did a write up on replacing the bearing.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/228427-3rd-gen-front-wheel-bearing-write-up.html

Go to post 4. It should sound familar.


The clicking noise sounds more like a CV joint. I guess the only way to know for sure is seperate the spindle/bearing from the cv joint - which is rather easy to do - and spin it to isolate the noise.

 

[4ranover]

The passenger side is 100% a bad bearing. That's exactly the way mine sounded. Turn the rotor the way you are should be virtually silent and smooth. I did a write up on replacing the bearing.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/228427-3rd-gen-front-wheel-bearing-write-up.html

Go to post 4. It should sound familar.

Ahhh yes, sounds identical. Thanks for sharing the detailed writeup - I was actually reading through your post earlier today to mentally prepare myself!

 

[T4R-noob]

i say wheel bearing, i had that same noise and ended up being my wheel bearings

 

[mtbtim]

The video below isn't the exact job you'll be doing because it's doing press work on knuckles with manual hubs but it's very similar. It will be a nice supplement to John's write-up which I used when I helped my friend Jordan with his manual hub swap.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TZ2sOfVrnhU" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[nissanh]

Wow... I just went though the posts and just in the second post OP got the answer! and TIM posted a video.... Address the issue without messing with other components....

Isn't the miles is too low to have a bad bearing? Usually toyota OEM bearings lasts a long time...I have 211K in the 4runner and 270K miles in my corolla and still got OEM bearings.

OP, if you plan to keep the truck for a while, stay with OEM bearings and seals.

Driverside: Is it coming from the hub area or around the ADD area? Have you try to engage and disengage the 4WD and check for the sound? You need the engine to run to create the vacuum needed to activate the ADD system.

 

[4ranover]

Isn't the miles is too low to have a bad bearing? Usually toyota OEM bearings lasts a long time...I have 211K in the 4runner and 270K miles in my corolla and still got OEM bearings.

It's originally a midwest truck (everything is rusted to crap) so that might have something to do with it. I'm thinking about throwing in a spindle/hub from a junkyard out here in OR, definitely easier than replacing the bearing.

Driverside: Is it coming from the hub area or around the ADD area? Have you try to engage and disengage the 4WD and check for the sound? You need the engine to run to create the vacuum needed to activate the ADD system.

Good question! It was difficult to isolate the sound on the driver side, but I'll try engaging 4wd to see if it changes.

 

[nissanh]

^^^ Yes, try to find a good used spindle from a yard. Get both sides and simply swap those. When I come across a good parts truck, I'll pull parts out of it. I have two complete rear axles pulled from a low mile land cruiser to go in when my cruiser needs rear axle bearings. Land Cruisers are so robust even at 230K miles, the axle bearings are still got no play.