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Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:17 pm

I've started hearing a very high pitched squeak when I drive, almost constant. Wheel bearings going bad? I've found a rear and front wheel bearing replacement kit for my 82 vanagon. Wondering if that's the problem first. Not sure if those things have ever been changed, I'm not the original owner. What's the process like changing those guys?

Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:06 am

I noticed no one answered your question. On a 30 year old vehicle, lots of things can make noises. Typically wheel bearings make more of a "groan/roar" sound that will come and go as you rock the steering wheel going down the road.

If this is not a daily driver, it would be best to jack it up safely and start looking for worn or loose items. Grabbing the tire with no load on it at 12 and 6 should have minimal movement with good wheel bearings. It would be a good idea to plan on repacking the wheel bearings anyhow. Part of the process is removing them, cleaning them, and inspecting for pits or metal shavings. They hold up pretty well, and they might just need grease and new seals. On the front, you need to remove the brake calipers to get to the wheel bearings. On the rear, the axles need to come out to remove the spindles.

I sense you don't have a lot of exprience and would recommend getting a a Bentley repair manual to determine if you have the tools and skill set. I never like to order parts in advance, when I am unsure of the problem, only when I am doing planned maintanance will I order parts in advance. This will bump your question. mark

Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:24 am

Disc brakes can make a variety of noises. If you don't know the history of your Vanagon then it is probably best to pull the wheels and take a good look at the amount of pads remaining. The noise itself isn't necessarily bad.

Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:57 pm

Yeah if one of the front calipers isn't fully releasing it can make them "sing".

You could try a very easy test.
Next time you're out on the road and it's starts singing, pull over, jack up the offending side enough to turn the wheel, give it a spin.

If it stops after about 1/4 rotation, your calipers probably aren't releasing fully.

Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:09 pm

I recently had to pay a shop that misdiagnosed a sound as being the rear wheel bearings (which were fine). The problem turned out to be a previous shop that had screwed up the greasing of a front wheel bearing.

So, if the brakes are eliminated as a source, then either do the front wheel bearings first (as they are much easier and cheaper to do), or hang a mic in different spots on the vehicle and listen thru headphones to try and localize the sound. You will need wind protection on it.

Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:30 pm

I have the same type of sound on my '89. A local shop hooked up mics all over the vehicle trying to isolate its location. No luck. Bearings were fine. What I found out is that the noise disappears when applying the brakes. Thus my noise must be from the brakes. When sticking my head out the window it sounds more like its from the back, but hard to really tell.

So try applying the brakes a couple of times and see if it goes away and comes back.

Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:34 pm

Am I the only one who walks around the van touching the lugnuts and lugbolts while filling up on a road trip?

My wife thinks I'm crazy, for what it's worth. But, not just for this.

Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:47 pm

riceye wrote: Am I the only one who walks around the van touching the lugnuts and lugbolts while filling up on a road trip?

My wife thinks I'm crazy, for what it's worth. But, not just for this.

A side effect of my OCD is the need to keep notebooks full
of useless data. I use an temp gun at gas fills and shoot various
spots on my Westy including the rims/tires. I have yet to do
anything with this data which I also record outside temps,weather,
head wind etc....maybe someday I'll see a trend that alarms
me of a possible problem.

Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:17 pm

Just got van back from mechanic. Of course, he said it didn't make the chirp noise on his test drive. He R&R'd the rear brake drums and freed up adjusters. I didnt realize how bad the rear brakes were. To do this he had to deal with the axle nut. The chirp is still there. I'll take it back tomorrow and see if we can test drive together. Still stumped at the moment.

Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:00 pm

singler3360 wrote: Just got van back from mechanic. Of course, he said it didn't make the chirp noise on his test drive. He R&R'd the rear brake drums and freed up adjusters. I didnt realize how bad the rear brakes were. To do this he had to deal with the axle nut. The chirp is still there. I'll take it back tomorrow and see if we can test drive together. Still stumped at the moment.

The axle nut doesn't get touched when removing the rear brake drums...

Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:37 pm

Jake de Villiers wrote: singler3360 wrote: Just got van back from mechanic. Of course, he said it didn't make the chirp noise on his test drive. He R&R'd the rear brake drums and freed up adjusters. I didnt realize how bad the rear brakes were. To do this he had to deal with the axle nut. The chirp is still there. I'll take it back tomorrow and see if we can test drive together. Still stumped at the moment.

The axle nut doesn't get touched when removing the rear brake drums...

It does when I do my brakes. Individual choice and the right tools. It typically takes me longer to remove the cotter pin than to loosen the nut. Removing the hub makes the brake job easier and you get to replace that worn wheel seal as well. This is going back together yesterday when I did my rears.

Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:01 am

Wildthings wrote: Jake de Villiers wrote: singler3360 wrote: Just got van back from mechanic. Of course, he said it didn't make the chirp noise on his test drive. He R&R'd the rear brake drums and freed up adjusters. I didnt realize how bad the rear brakes were. To do this he had to deal with the axle nut. The chirp is still there. I'll take it back tomorrow and see if we can test drive together. Still stumped at the moment.

The axle nut doesn't get touched when removing the rear brake drums...

It does when I do my brakes. Individual choice and the right tools. It typically takes me longer to remove the cotter pin than to loosen the nut. Removing the hub makes the brake job easier and you get to replace that worn wheel seal as well. This is going back together yesterday when I did my rears.

Okay...what I meant to say was, you don't *have* to take the hub off to look inside the drum to check for mice. ;)

Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:47 pm

Chirp came from improperly tightened front shock top nut. I installed them back in March and didn't know what I was doing. Noise gone.