*A70 wheel bearing

[cat007]

Hi all

After Sunday's cruise, well during actually, I noticed an alarming noise coming from the front left of my supra. It would be worse at certain speeds - annoyingly the worse at about motorway traffic cruising speeds. It started off as hardly audible but you could just feel it in the floor or seat but on the way home it was actually a bit worrying that something would self destruct.

Sounded to me like a wheel bearing so I jacked up the front of the car and gave the front left wheel a jiggle. No movement or grinding sounds etc....hmmmm
Jacked up the back of the car - no grinding sounds from the rear left wheel - but there is movement. I could wiggle it when holding your hands at 9 and 3 and a little bit less but still noticeable when holding my hands at 12 and 6.

I'm not comfortable with diagnosing the problem - and especially not comfortable with getting the diagnosis wrong and replacing bearings that weren't actually buggered at $200 a pop.
Is there anyone here who I can take my car to, jack it up and get their opinion? On the shore preferably as I don't want to drive it too far as it sits....

And also - does anyone work in an industry that can get a better price than $200 for a single rear wheel bearing?? Seem's a little crazy priced.....


Cheers!

Hunt

[allencr]

Wheel bearings don't sound alarming or change at certain speeds, they're silent or have a low/deep rumble/grind increasing in volume with speed and are rarely ever heard over the wind noise.
Rev slowly to near redline when sitting still, gradually, and I think you'll hear & see what ever is vibrating.

[Crucible]

With the car on stands, spin the front wheel as fast as you can and sit a finger on the strut spring lightly. If you feel ANY vibration or slight rumble at all the wheel bearing needs replacing. Compare to other side if your unsure, you shouldnt feel anything through the spring.

A wheel bearing will generally change pitch when loading the car left to right.

You really need a stethoscope to diag rear axle or hub bearings while its in the air running as you cant spin the wheels by hand because of driveline drag and too much driveline noise to use the 'finger on spring test. Also make sure the tyres are not scalloping as they will give the exact same noise/symptoms as a wheel bearing.

[Lloyd]

Wheel bearings don't sound alarming or change at certain speeds, they're silent or have a low/deep rumble/grind increasing in volume with speed and are rarely ever heard over the wind noise.

I'd have to disagree with this. When wheel bearings get rough they can be VERY audible and will change with speed/loud. The rumble bit is accurate though.



As Crucible says, jack the front and gives the wheels a spin. If it's a bearing then you should be able to feel it though the strut and more than likely hear it if you can while driving. If it's a rear problem and a bearing, and loud enough to hear while driving then you should be able to put it in gear with the rear up on stands and be able to hear where it's coming from.

The other thing with fronts is that they will tend to be louder with a bit of load on. If you're driving and can hear a slight noise from one corner and you turn to load up that corner then it will tend to get louder.

[cat007]

Hey all

Thanks for the replies

I took the front wheel and brake pads off last night so when I spun the hub there would be no other outside noises. I couldn't hear anything - at least not any grinding noises. And I couldn't feel anything in the strut spring.

I did notice that the front camber bolt on the bottom A arm was finger tight and the back wasn't exactly very tight either. This probably isn't the cause of the weird noises, but wouldn't be helping!

I'll jack up the back tomorrow afternoon and have a poke around there and take the half shaft off so there's no diff noise interference.

I guess I'll be heading your way soon Mr TS00B for a wheel alignment

[Mr Ree]

Who did your last alignment? Sounds like they didnt torque up your cam bolts properly :-/

[cat007]

Who did your last alignment? Sounds like they didnt torque up your cam bolts properly :-/

Some crowd off Wairau road - I can't remember their name - but yeah, it would seem they didn't do shit up properly!

[Bling]

Did you spin it with the wheel on?

[cat007]

Did you spin it with the wheel on?

yeah it didn't make any special noises - just the brakes scraping really...

[Bling]

Spin it and grab the spring, just to be sure it's not bearing anyway. You'll feel it rumble, but in my experience, I couldn't hear a thing. So noise isn't always a telling sign. Especially since there is no load on the bearing.

[whonose]

Could also be the axle hub - the bit with the studs in it - has worn. Have just had that in my AW. Could hear it on the track. Check that the axle nut/bearing is tight and then have someone wobble the car from side to side and if the axle where it goes through the hub moves and the hub stays still, that is what it could be.

[evil_si]

Any vibration while driving?
I had a tyre bulge slightly, gave a slight vibration at 100, and made the most annoying woowoowoowoowoo noise above 75kph