Front wheel bearing education

[TILA]

I had a hum coming from the front of my Tahoe. Seemed tell tale bearing noise, although I couldn't really identify which side it was coming from. I kind of thought it was coming from the driver side, but after giving it the road tests from a lot of YouTube videos, I decided it was the passenger side (swerve right and the noise goes away). I replaced the passenger side but the noise stayed the same.

The noise went away after replacing the driver side. I should have followed my gut and just changed both at the same time. The passenger side would have been right behind the other had I picked the right side to start with.

 

[Geotrash]

I had a hum coming from the front of my Tahoe. Seemed tell tale bearing noise, although I couldn't really identify which side it was coming from. I kind of thought it was coming from the driver side, but after giving it the road tests from a lot of YouTube videos, I decided it was the passenger side (swerve right and the noise goes away). I replaced the passenger side but the noise stayed the same.

The noise went away after replacing the driver side. I should have followed my gut and just changed both at the same time. The passenger side would have been right behind the other had I picked the right side to start with.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It adds to our collective knowledge and will help others.

 

[BourbonNcigars]

I've never been in a vehicle where it was easy (for me) to tell where an exterior noise was coming from. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sparksalot]

Both have the same miles on them, you might as well do the pair. I did both on Lola last weekend. Turns out both had leaking seals.

 

[Danny3737]

I can tell you from experience, it doesn’t matter which side you think the noise is coming from. Replace both ASAP.

I had a hum coming from the front of my Tahoe. Seemed tell tale bearing noise, although I couldn't really identify which side it was coming from. I kind of thought it was coming from the driver side, but after giving it the road tests from a lot of YouTube videos, I decided it was the passenger side (swerve right and the noise goes away). I replaced the passenger side but the noise stayed the same.

The noise went away after replacing the driver side. I should have followed my gut and just changed both at the same time. The passenger side would have been right behind the other had I picked the right side to start with.

 

[Just Fishing]

learned that with ball joints as well.
Every time i replace one side, i end up doing the other side within a month or two.

 

[PG01]

Two sides to any vehicle... I do everything in pairs.... more a ‘Murphy’ thing for me tho

 

[Danny3737]

I wonder If that’s where the term “ half-ass” came from

Two sides to any vehicle... I do everything in pairs.... more a ‘Murphy’ thing for me tho

 

[YukonXLMan]

Completely agree with the 'change both' mantra. I have 90K miles on my rig and just changed both. Started with a hum that got progressively louder above 35 mph. First thought it was my tire, so had them checked. Nope.
Once I realized I could turn the wheel rapidly back and forth and it would go away on a left turn, but not right, I bought both and prepared to work. I thought, based on it going away on a left turn, it was the passenger bearing so I replaced it first then test rode. It was the offender. bearing spun very freely when off truck. Almost decided to wait on the driver's side, out of laziness, but bit the bullet and did it right then, since I had all the tools out to do it. GLAD I DID! it was leaking grease out the rear seal.
Though it wasn't needed at the moment, I decided to change out the brake pads at the same time, since I had to remove everything to do that job anyway. Added maybe 15 minutes to the entire job.

 

[Foggy]

There are a bunch of wheel bearing assembly brands out there.. From
what I've read, the SK were the best, but aren't made here anymore..
What's the "quality" brand that you guys have found last ???
I've also seen the "hybrid" style that have roller balls and cone shaped bearings...

Please share your experiences you've had recently, Thanks !

 

[YukonXLMan]

There are a bunch of wheel bearing assembly brands out there.. From
what I've read, the SK were the best, but aren't made here anymore..
What's the "quality" brand that you guys have found last ???
I've also seen the "hybrid" style that have roller balls and cone shaped bearings...

Please share your experiences you've had recently, Thanks !

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are the ones I purchased. Cannot vouch for longevity or quality yet, but I'm sure I'll be finding out!

 

[wjburken]

Timkin is a quality manufacturer, even though some of there stuff is made in China. From my experience working with the various bearing manufacturers building equipment for their quality processes, Timkin, MRC and SKF would be my top three for putting out quality stuff. NICE and F-A-G would be next on the list. Past that, it’s a crap shoot in my opinion based on what I learned working with their quality groups. Not sure who makes the bearings for Moog, but I don’t think Moog actually makes the bearings themselves, just assembled them into their product. They do have a decent quality group but I’d stick with their higher line.

 

[RET423]

I also have stayed with Timken as my go to brand, I have heard some say that they aren't what they used to be but I buy a LOT of bearings (I own a trucking company) and I haven't noticed any appreciable degradation in quality.

 

[drakon543]

through the years ive used just about every easily accessible brand of hubs you can get. anything other than timken or directly from the dealership i didn't get any longevity from. they few brands i didn't get to use may have been from skf and other above noted bearing brands.

 

[Geotrash]

I have a friend who owns a seal factory in Pune, India. He runs a good business and they engineer their seals properly for each application so they command a premium price from the company its they sell to. The biggest problem he has right now is counterfeiters putting inferior parts into very convincing fake boxes with his company's logo. He's had to implement a holographic seal and serial number tracking system so his customers can tell genuine from fake parts. I predict that eventually places like Amazon will have to have part authenticity tracking systems for the vendors who use their platform.

 

[Fubar0715]

Two sides to any vehicle... I do everything in pairs.... more a ‘Murphy’ thing for me tho

I just did mine in November. When I had the wheels mounted and balanced, the tire shop mentioned needing front bearings by starting the convo off with, "hey, did you hear the loud noise coming from the front end?" Never heard much of anything, even after driving it back from Arizona, so I thought they were will of $h!T. Fast forward another 10 months and now I start to hear a slight hum-not sure of which side its coming from so I did both with Delco parts. In doing so, I noticed the driver's side had been changed previously and they used the Autozone special assembly-you know that got swapped out!

Do them in pairs and you only do the job 1 time!