5 Symptoms of a Bad Wheel Bearing (And How to Diagnose Wheel Bearing Noises)
Your car is equipped with front and rear wheel bearings. In fact, any machine with moving wheels probably has wheel bearings.
On a vehicle, wheel bearings reduce friction on the rotating wheels. Otherwise, friction would be too high and could generate high heat on the vehicle’s wheels and tires. Wheel bearings reduce this heat by acting as a lubricant for the wheels and tires. In most cases, wheel bearings can last for several years, depending on how often you drive your car.
But wheel bearings start to wear out when they lose their ability to lubricate the wheels and tires for various reasons. When that happens, the wheels and tires will generate much more heat than usual.
Plus, the wheels and tires will no longer rotate as easily. You will notice many unpleasant symptoms throughout your steering. These symptoms will worsen over time and should not be ignored.
What are wheel bearings?
Simply put, wheel bearings are metal rings that keep your car’s wheels turning smoothly with minimal friction. The shape and type of bearings vary from vehicle to vehicle, but their purpose is the same – to help the wheels turn. bearings lose strength and become weak over time.
What can damage wheel bearings?
They can be destroyed by water or excessive heat. Even if all bearings are properly sealed, wear and tear will damage the seals over time. When the seals are damaged, water and debris can get into the bearings and prevent them from performing their function.
The 5 Most Common Symptoms of Defective Wheel Bearings
1) Shaking
When wheel bearings are damaged, the wheel will produce a lot of shaking and vibration while driving. This is because the wheel will have more friction and will move out of alignment. If you don’t replace your wheel bearings, this shaking will get worse. Unlike just the steering wheel shaking, you will feel the vibration throughout the car.
2) Your car slows down
One day, while driving, you may notice that your car suddenly slows down. This is often due to worn or defective wheel bearings. The wheels can no longer run smoothly, causing the wheels to move more slowly. A stuck brake caliper could also be the cause.
3) Grinding noises
Without good wheel bearings to act as a lubricant for the wheel and tire, there will be a lot of metal contacting other metals. This not only creates excessive friction, but also grinding noises. These scraping noises get louder as you go faster, and because they come from the wheels, other drivers will definitely notice them and it can be a bit embarrassing. So, replace your bearings sooner rather than later. See the Wheel Bearing Noises section below for more information.
4) Tire Wear
The more you drive with bad steering wheel bearings, the more your tires will wear out. However, uneven tire wear is actually quite unusual. All four tires should be evenly planted on the ground, meaning all tires should wear evenly. However, because bad wheel bearings cause alignment problems, the tires in question will show signs of internal or external wear.
Usually the tires with the most wear are the ones with bad wheel bearings and need replacing.
5) Steering wheel vibration
If your wheel is shaking, you will feel the vibration whenever you grip the steering wheel. However, instead of feeling the vibration at high speeds like you would if your tires were out of balance, you will feel the vibration at low speeds if you have a problem with the wheel bearings. Over time, the vibrations will get worse, and the vibrations during acceleration will also get worse. Of course, you should replace the defective wheel bearings before this happens.
Wheel Bearing Noise Diagnosis
At first, the noise is too quiet to hear. It’s not noticeable, but within a few weeks, the noise will get louder. Soon, you’ll hear the noise constantly throughout your journey. Let me be clear: car wheel bearing noise is one of the hardest to diagnose. Why? Because you have to be driving the car to hear the noise. When the car stops, the noise stops. However, there are a few ways to diagnose car wheel bearing noise.
1) Listen While Driving When you’re behind the wheel, listen carefully. Do you hear a rhythmic, speeding up whirring noise? Does the sound get louder at a certain speed and then disappear? If so, the noise could be coming from your wheel bearings.
2) Testing on a Lift
With another person in the vehicle, get your car on a lift and have them run it at a decent speed. Listen to the noise from all the wheels. You will be able to point which wheel bearing are making noise. Don’t attempt this without the right setup or experience.
3) Sway Test
This is a pro method where you have to drive your car at 50 mph and sway your car to the right and then to left, and so on. Do it slowly. If the rhythmic sound shifts from left to right, your car has a wheel bearing issue.
To spot the exact wheel which has the issue, listen closely when you sway car to the left if noise decreases the issue is on the right side. If the noise decreases when you sway to the right, one of the wheel bearings on the left side has failed.
Once you have spotted that one or more wheel bearings are making noise, the only solution is to replace the damaged ones, and your ride will become noiseless once again.