Possibly bad hub bearing?

[Erickk120]

I won't have time to look into it till Sunday but I think the one OEM hub bearing is finally showing some signs of early wear. When I accelerate past 30 mph I hear a lot of wind noise, more than usual, it sounds like tire noise if that makes sense just louder than usual, well that was the last 2 days, today I started hearing a faint whirring that I can barely pick up when I listen to it carefully it doesn't matter if I accelerate or decelerate I can barely pick it up, but I normally I hear it when I let off the gas since the engine doesn't drown it or on flat stretches of road, although when at lower speeds I hear it in both decel and accel since the engine isn't drowning it. I can tell it varies with speed as I can hear the sound change when am either losing speed or gaining, between 55 to 30ish MPH. After 60 mph I can't really hear much since the wind noise drowns most if not all of it. The wind noise is more noticeable when I put my head near the passenger area than the driver. The driver side was replaced with a Timken one several years ago, I checked them both a few months ago when I was doing other work and they didn't show any play. What are your experiences/thoughts? If it turns out to be that, would you go with Moog or Timkens, Personally Timken has never let me down to this date, I have no experience with Moog what what's your take.

Thanks in advance

 

[Doubeleive]

either one works, but anymore you can get oem's from rock auto for the same price

 

[swathdiver]

Timken. I did one last year and need to do the other, sounds just like yours.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Rack it up, check for freeplay again. They can go pretty bad pretty quick, or they can make a bit of noise for a long time before showing signs of freeplay. Just depends on the mode of failure.

If everything feels tight, grab a friend, put the vehicle up on jackstands. Make sure it's SECURE. Tie up any loose hair, clothes, etc etc. Put the car in 4wd, toss in first or second, and let it idle with the tires spinning. Use a stethoscope on the hub to listen, or in the absence of that: A hard handled screwdriver. Touch the tip to the hub, and listen into the handle. Bearings will have a light whirr associated with them, but any chunkiness or grinding is a no-go. If you're not sure, compare the two sides.

Other things that can cause it: Differentials. Check fluid.

Moog is meh. Stick with Timken.

In the mean time: Pop your lug covers off and re-torque your axle nuts to 177ftlb. They have been known to back off on rare occasion

 

[Erickk120]

Will lift it tomorrow and see what's up if time allows afer I get me one of those stethoscopes, Otherwise, I'll have to use my beater til I can make some time. I did realize I have 4wd so I put it in 4hi today at work and drove it straight after hitting roughly 30/35 mph can't recall exactly I felt my pedals vibrate and kind of a deep loud growl when going past those speeds and when slowing down the move aggressive I braked the louder and violent the vibration/growl got, I'm sure something is up around there in the front. That was enough to convince me not to drive her til I figure it out and get my new parts in. This is new as I've driven it up to 50 mph in 4 hi before without any noises and buttery smooth til it was time for turns, this was testings and I do not drive in 4wd much.

 

[Fless]

4wd on dry pavement is going to bind up the drivetrain. Nothing good can happen with that going on, and I would expect some argument (noise and jerking) from it. Hopefully you're doing that on non-hard roads.

 

[dnt1010]

Erickk120 I was curious as to what year model you have and what mileage? I just replaced the front passenger side on a 2009 Tahoe Hybrid 4x4 with 198k miles. I used a std Oreilly hub bearing (cheap) I figure it will last as long or longer than the rest of the vehicle at this age and mileage, plus it really is a simple job to trade out if you have basic tools so if my guess is wrong I just pop another one on LOL.
The easiest way that I have found to check a front wheel bearing is to simply jack the wheel up and spin it by hand (plus of course check for play) if the bearing is bad you can typically hear the slight roar as the wheel rotates even at a slow speed. Mine was pretty obvious when turned but it had no side to side play that you could feel.

 

[afpj]

From what I read your passenger side is the remaining original hub. If you load the passenger side (left turns) does it make more noise? Of course don’t do it in 4wd or even 4auto. Not sure what you’re trying to do driving with 4wd (4hi I assume) on dry pavement, especially up to 50 mph, but the drivetrain don’t like that. As snowdrifter said, check your diffs, especially front ...it’s got a magnet on the drain plug see if you got chunks on it when you check fluid. Transfer case and rear diff (at least mine 02 yuk) doesn’t have a magnet...have to strain it the old fashioned way.

 

[Erickk120]

Dnt1010 its an 04 z71 225k miles so it was about time,Lifted it turned the wheel by hand and noticed a clunk along with a sandy/grindy sound. Turned it without the cv axle and it did the same sound, the driver side was buttery smooth no weird noises, there no play on either bearig either. I took vid used my phone so I'm sorry about the quality.

forgot to add I never noticed the clicking before while driving. Oh and when I said driving with 4hi I did it less than half a mile, i know you aren't suppose to do it in dry pavement but like i said it was just a short test not like I use 4wd often its pretty much untouched, unless I get stuck which the g80 gets me through most of the time.

 

[bottomline2000]

Timken and i wont put more than 100k miles on a set before replacing both at the same time. Not worth the risk of one failing and losing a wheel..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using Tapatalk

 

[DougAMiller]

Agree with afpj on loading it in 2WD. At that mileage I'd be surprised if it didn't need replaced. Did both of mine with Timken at 150K.

 

[Madmax02]

Your issue sounds exactly like my 2005 Tahoe LT 4WD. 111k miles. Here is a video of the sound from my Tahoe. Did yours sound like this at all?

 

[Erickk120]

Your issue sounds exactly like my 2005 Tahoe LT 4WD. 111k miles. Here is a video of the sound from my Tahoe. Did yours sound like this at all?

It never occurred to me to open the window, I would jack it up and check both sides, could be as simple as something rubbing to brake related. The way I was sure it was a hub assembly was by putting it on 4wd and stress the bearings after like 20-30mph I could definitely feel rumble and loud stress noises coming from under me, and I knew it wasn't normal because I've used my truck in 4wd when both bearings were fine. I would give it a shot and see if it changes don't go past 40 mph and I know you aren't suppose to use 4wd in pavement but it wont hurt a thing as long as you don't turn and bind things. I wont lie though yours sounds like something has a loose bolt moving around/belt related, does it only do while on the move? I would rock it up and down when its parked just to make sure. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it is indeed a hub specially if dry, Just lift it and rotate it, you will feel the roar or noise when you rotate it by hand.

 

[Erickk120]

All of my noises are gone now, I don't hear any wind noise inside and 4wd is quiet, amazing what one bad hub bearing does, didn't have any play. There is no clicking and appears to be fine outside the truck, until i spin it fast enough and it sounds a little dry.