Wheel bearing noise but not wheel bearing??

[wardak33]

Hey guys, here’s a tough for for ya.

So my mom has a 1999 Mitsu galant, 2.4l. About to turn 140k miles soon. The front end has a roaring noise, and at one point, it was loud. I got a deal on 2 wheel bearings for a cheap price and did them. Noise quieted down a significant amount, but there was still something wrong. I had all the tires balanced and rotated, no play whatsoever, and the swapped out each tire with the donut to check for damaged rims. I’m running out of ideas as to what to do now. I’m going to be doing the tie rod tomorrow and taking it for an alignment would like to have this noise fixed first. I’ve done wheel bearings before and its hard not to confuse the noise, but this is really bugging me now. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Topic

[wardak33]

The tires on the car are about 2 years old, some firestone HRi’s, and still have a decent amount of tread on them. I had to do an alignment because the boot on one of the tie rods was torn and ended up replacing it. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories with cheap bearings sold on ebay and/or made in china, so I bought a set of timken bearings, and I got a hell of a deal on them. I had the tires rotated and balanced and the noise is still somewhat there. It’s coming from the front, as i can feel it in the wheel, and the noise gets worse when i turn right, so i know its coming from the left side. Once again, i’ve checked for play, no play.

[Tri9SS]

I think you may have an Output Shaft Bearing or input shaft bearing problem that you may want to check. Be safe.

[BigC]

Hi wardak33,

Did you replace the entire hub or just the wheel bearings? If you replaced just the wheel bearings, did you also replace the corresponding race that comes with each bearing? Keep us posted.

[wardak33]

The wheel/hub is a once peice unit, not serviceable.

[dreamer2355]

What brand of parts did you use? (Just out of curiosity).

And any different brands/sized tires?

Does the noise favor one side when turning a corner?

Let us know the alignment results too!

[EricTheCarGuy]

Actually the most common cause of that type of noise is tires not wheel bearings, you might try rotating the tires to see if the noise changes or moves, if it does then tires are probably the cause. The alignment will NOT cause a noise BTW. If you find that it IS the tires I recommend investing in better ones, you can never go wrong by investing in a good set of tires.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Noisey bearings don’t often have play it’s the quiet ones that have play. I know you feel that it’s not the tires but I feel they are still suspect. Also on the list is the cheep weel bearings but I would still look to the tires first.

[Author]

Replies