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What sound do rear wheel bearing make when worn out?
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speedygeorge
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 11:35 am    Post subject: What sound do rear wheel bearing make when worn out? Reply with quote

I was told by my local shop that rear wheel bearings need replacing, what sound will they make when worn out?
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Timwhy
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 11:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Three of my rear wheel barings needed to be replaced and the sound that they made, was like a scraping grinding noise. It was loud on the side that needed both barings, but once they were done it rode smooth and no noise.

Good luck!
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levi
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The noise changes as the damage progresses, and it doesn't have to be a constant noise. You could get a squeak squeak through half the rotation of the tire at slow speed.
If you find a spot to coast at about 30 mph you should notice a change in the noise as you alter your direction. Depending on which side is going out, you could have almost no noise with a slight right turn, changing to the grinding as you make a slight left, etc, but this depends on the stage of bearing failure.
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speedygeorge
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

levi wrote:
The noise changes as the damage progresses, and it doesn't have to be a constant noise. You could get a squeak squeak through half the rotation of the tire at slow speed.
If you find a spot to coast at about 30 mph you should notice a change in the noise as you alter your direction. Depending on which side is going out, you could have almost no noise with a slight right turn, changing to the grinding as you make a slight left, etc, but this depends on the stage of bearing failure.



The shop says they can something, but I can't hear anything, except perhaps my credit card crying. Would it be OK to wait until I can actually hear something, or would I be doing any damage?
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levi
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Once it starts making noise, you can let it go for months, it will very gradually get noisier. Your cost then will be the same to fix it.
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Mal evolent
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

starts as a high pitched whistle. you hear it bouncing off hard vertical surfaces like guardrail posts, or concrete barriers

when it sounds like an old school coffee percolater, you got troubles, Bubba
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randywebb
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

go to radio shack and get a small cheap microphone - tie it so it is near the wheel bearing & connect to a recorder or amp & listen

see if some other spots produce a louder noise - CV joints; other wheel bearing; or gf
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Timwhy
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 2:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you jack up one side and move the wheels yourself. Make sure it's not in gear or e-brake on. You may be able to feel some sort of resistance.

I'm pretty sure you would hear them if they were bad, but then maybe not.

Getting back to jacking it up. See if you can move the wheel back and forth while grabbing the left and right sides of the wheel. Is it loose? Is the axle nut tight or alittle slack. Does it have the pin in it?

I had a garage tighten my axle nuts down when mine started making noise. The noise went away for about a week, then I knew they would have to be replaced at some point.

If you can do the work yourself terriffic. If not and you need all barings replaced, this job may very well cost you $400-$500. Once you have them replaced though they will be smooth as silk.

Good Luck!
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iltis74
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Never lost one in a VW before, but a few in Subarus. Just sounds like extra road noise, like someone is slowly stealing all the sound insulation from the car. After a few months it will occur to you that there is no insulation to be stealing, and the radio level is giving you a headache, and you will have to figure out which side it is and go to work. If you wait tooooo long it could pound out the hub.
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