5 Causes Of Wheel Bearing Noise And How To Identify

After you use a bearing, it starts to cool off and then a vacuum is generated from the lubricant, air, and contacting metal. The seals should hold the vacuum in place.

If not, the sealed hub or the bearing will start pulling in air from the outside, which may include water and other debris. If you are in a certain location in the U.S. which has salty roads, it would be like smothering your wheel bearings with ocean water, resulting in the wheel bearing being damaged or have noise coming from it.

What causes noise from the wheel bearings?
Wheel bearings are attached to the wheel and are constantly moving. Since the wheels are touching the road while driving, there could be a variety of reasons why the wheel bearing is making these strange noises or enduring damage. The main reasons are below.

1. Poorly Installed

If your wheel bearings got replaced not too long ago, then it would be very strange if they were failing any time after that. The only conclusion is that the wheel bearings endured damage because they were installed improperly or against the manufacturer’s recommendation.

2. Driving On The Street Floods

The manufacturer of a car lubricates the wheel bearings. If they used a lubricant that is based from petroleum, it will cause pressure on the wheel bearings if they become disturbed. Wheel bearing seals are designed by engineers in a way so the pressure can leave the wheel bearings. The only bad thing is that these seals cannot stop water from getting through. This means if you were to drive your car on a street that is flooded with water, then your bearings would be subjected to moisture. Once that happens, it mixes with the lubricant and makes it ineffective, causing the bearings to endure damage. You would not be able to service or repair a modern style wheel bearing either. The only solution from water damage is to replace the wheel bearing completely.

3. Driving On The Rough Roads

The wheel bearing will receive all the pressure of the tire and wheel. If you were to drive over a bumpy curb or pothole, the wheel bearing could be subjected to damage very easily. When you hit something, the bearing’s balls will likely get forced into the race. The result will be small imperfections in the bearings. As you continue to drive the car with these imperfect bearings, it will cause more wear and heat to form. Soon the wear will cause debris to form and this will pollute the lubricant of the wheel bearing and make it fail a lot faster. However, it is possible the failure could take a few months before it is noticeable.

4. Unbalanced Tires and Bad Shock

The wheel system depends on its wheel bearing, tire, lower arm, lower joint, knuckle arm, and shock. When there are unbalanced tires on a car that you’re driving, some of those other parts could be damaged and then it will make noise come from the wheel bearing.

5. Accident On The Wheel Area

Wheel bearings are constantly in motion and they are connected to all the other parts mentioned in the last section. So, if the wheel area were to be subjected to an accident, then the wheel bearing would be 100% damaged and then cause noise to form.

How to Identify Damage or Noise of a Wheel Bearing
Take a jack and use it to lift the vehicle up until the tire is not on the ground. Now try moving the tire in a vertical direction, and then a horizontal one. If the wheel feels free play, then there might be damage to the bearing.

A video has been made to demonstrate how to perform this inspection of the wheel bearing. Just remember the noise you hear from the wheel bearing tends to vary. The noise you hear depends on how badly the wheel bearing is damaged.

Speed may also contribute to the noise from the wheel bearing. Sometimes you may go 100 km/h and hear the noise, but then go 110km/h and not hear the noise anymore. This may happen only if there is a small amount of damage to the bearing. Therefore, you may not be able to notice this right away. You will only be able to tell by feeling the tire free play like mentioned above. At this point, take your car to the auto body shop and have it looked at by a professional. They can figure out if there is damage to the wheel bearing or if another part is damaged like the wheel rim or the tire.

Symptoms of Bad or Failing Wheel Bearing

Common signs include abnormal tire wear, grinding or roaring noise from the tire area, vibration in the steering wheel, and play in the wheels.

One of the most overlooked yet highly critical parts of the drive-axle and steering assembly are the wheel bearings. Every wheel on your car is attached to a hub and inside this hub is a set of lubricated wheel bearings that allows your tires and wheels to spin freely without building up too much heat. They are engineered to last a very long time, however, eventually they will lose their lubricity, wear out, and need to be replaced. If they break entirely, it can cause a wheel/tire combination to fall off the car while at speed, leading to a very unsafe driving situation.

Prior to 1997, most cars, trucks and SUV's manufactured and sold in the US had an inner and outer bearing on each wheel that is recommended to be serviced every 30,000 miles. As technology improved, newer vehicle were equipped with a "maintenance free" single wheel bearing that was designed to extend the life of wheel bearings without having to be serviced. From time to time, these "indestructible" wheel bearings will wear out and need to be replaced before they break.

There are a few warning signs that are rather simple to recognize indicating a wheel bearing is wearing out and needs to be replaced.

1. Abnormal tire wear

There are many individual mechanical problems that can lead to abnormal tire wear including:

• Under or over inflated tires
• CV Joints
• Struts and Shocks
• Misaligned Suspension

However, one of the most common sources of uneven tire wear is worn out wheel bearings. It's very rare for wheel bearings to wear evenly. As such, if the left tire is showing more wear, it might indicate a problem with the left wheel bearing. However, wheel bearings need to be replaced together; if there is a problem with one side, you need to replace the other wheel bearing on the same axle. If you or a tire technician notice that one side of your vehicle's tires are wearing out quicker than the other, contact a certified mechanic so they can road test and diagnose the cause of this tire wear. In many cases it can be something different or minor, but you don't want to risk having a wheel bearing break.

2. Grinding or roaring noise coming from the tire area

It's very difficult to detect a failing wheel bearing as it does not happen very often and when they do wear out, it can happen rather quickly. However, one warning sign of a wearing out wheel bearing is a loud grinding or roaring sound that comes from the tire area of your car. This is caused by excess heat that has built up inside the wheel bearing and losing a lot of its lubricity. Essentially it's a metal-to-metal sound that you're hearing. It's also common that you'll hear this from one, specific wheel and not both sides at the same time. Like the above issue, if you notice this warning sign, contact a certified mechanic as soon as possible so they can diagnose the source of this sound and fix it before it becomes a safety issue.

3. Vibration in the steering wheel

Another common symptom with other mechanical problems in the drive and steering assembly, a vibration in the steering wheel can be caused by worn out wheel bearings. Unlike a tire balance problem that typically shows up at higher speeds, a vibration in the steering wheel thanks to a worn out wheel bearing will be noticed at slower speeds and progressively get worse as the vehicle accelerates.

4. Additional play in the wheels

This is not very common for normal car owners to diagnose. However, if you have the tire jacked up or the vehicle is on a hydraulic lift, you can check this one out yourself. Grab the wheel on opposite sides and attempt to rock it back and forth. If the wheel bearings are good, the wheel won't "wobble". However, if the tire/wheel assembly moves back and forth, this is most likely due to worn out wheel bearings that need to be replaced as soon as possible.

Additionally, if you notice that the vehicle has a hard time rolling while the clutch is depressed or the vehicle is in neutral gear, it can be caused by wheel bearings that are worn out, creating friction and could be failing.

Anytime you notice any of the above symptoms of a worn out or failing wheel bearing, contact a dependable and local certified mechanic who will road test, diagnose and replace the wheel bearings if needed.