Front end noise *solved* ( Wheel bearing )

Yellow Hammer · Post by **Yellow Hammer** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:56 am

I have a noise in the front end that is similar to a tire noise. The tires are brand new 31" BFG AT KOs and after rotating them, the noise didn't change or move. It's hard to hear this noise at low speeds but when I reach 60 to 70 mph, it's very noticable. I'm guessing it's a wheel bearing or CV axle. Sometimes I hear a pop when making a slow sharp turn into a dip. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to narrow it down? I do have the torsion bars cranked so the axles are at a pretty steep angle. It's a 2001 CC that I bought new and now has 160000 miles. 90% of the miles are highway miles and I haven't replaced anything in the front end. I feel very lucky to go this long without having to do anything.

barch97 · Post by **barch97** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:59 am

I can't help you with the noise but...

Yellow Hammer wrote:160000 miles

A hundred and sixty thousand miles? That's both impressive and reassuring.

Yellow Hammer · Post by **Yellow Hammer** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:02 am

My work is all travel. The truck has been very good to me.

MARBLEYARD · Post by **MARBLEYARD** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:59 am

If it's worse in the turns it's your CV boot and hopefully just the boot. Over time the boot will dry rot and fall apart causing the grease to leak out. Once that grease leaks out, the joint will be metal on metal and eventually wear out.

FIX SOON and maybe you will get away with only replacing the boot.

Yellow Hammer · Post by **Yellow Hammer** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:17 am

I'm pretty sure it's not any of the boots. I inspected them for tears and cracks and they look ok. Also, there is no indication of grease being thrown out of the boot. I had a boot come off once and all the grease was thrown out and got everywhere. I repacked with grease and put a better clamp on to keep it from happening again.

It could be a combination of the wheel bearings and CV joints. All the history of what I've read in this forum points toward a wheel bearing but the popping noise when I turn makes me kind of suspect a CV joint. It wouldn't surprise me with as many miles that I have and the torsion bars being cranked so much.

Is there any troubleshooting tips from anyone on how to determine if a wheel bearing is bad without having to disassemble the wheel hub? Same questions goes for the CV joint.

Thanks

MARBLEYARD · Post by **MARBLEYARD** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:18 am

Most recently, I had to test drive a customer's car. (I work at an auto body repair shop) He was complaning about a vibration in his gas pedal. It was so slight but you could feel it in small waves, with a slight hum and vibration. My mechanic confermed it was a wheel bearing. The best way to find out cheeply and quickly is, jack it up, and try to move the tire, not around but in and out. If it moves it's bad and should be obvious if it is real bad.

Yellow Hammer · Post by **Yellow Hammer** » Fri May 18, 2007 7:07 am

Thanks for the help. It ended up being the right front wheel bearing. I got a little movement by moving the wheel back and forth so I took off the brakes and found a very noticable grinding when I turned the wheel. I replaced the hub and it made a 110% improvement.

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Front end noise solved ( Wheel bearing )

Front end noise solved ( Wheel bearing )

Re: Front end noise