Noisy front hub

[drtidmore]

I have a noisy front hub. It sounds to be the drivers side, but in reading the replacement procedure in Ronnie's site, I noted that in that case, the noise ALSO seemed to be from the drivers side BUT in reality was corrected by replacing the passenger side hub. When I turn the steering wheel just slightly to the left, the noise vanishes, just slightly to the right, it is a bit worse.

Anybody have good way of determining which side is most likely that one with the noisy bearing? With 128K miles, maybe I should just replace both. Thoughts?

David T

[harry yarnell]

It's the left bearing.

[drtidmore]

left, as in Driver Side, correct?

David T

[DAVES89]

We had a discussion on this some time ago and I remember that when you turn the wheel to the left the weight is transferred to the right side of the car. So if the noise goes away it is the right side or passenger side bearing that is bad. Turn the wheel to the right the weight transfers to the driver's side and if the noise goes away it is the drivers side. The extra weight of the weight transfer is what quiets the hub.

Or am I wrong?

[Guest Corvanti]

Dave, i also recall that thread.

if possible, i'd probably replace both sides if for no other reason: with the age of the Reattas, if one is going out the other one can't be far behind...

my "caveat" would be if many folks found one side going out exponentially to the other.

[harry yarnell]

Yes, driver's side.

As you turn right, the load increases on the LEFT bearing, INCREASING the noise on the left bearing. Extra weight doesn't quiet the noise, it increases it.

Edited October 1, 2013 by harry yarnell (see edit history)

[drtidmore]

Dave, found the thread and here is the quote.

Usually when one side is bad the other is not far behind it so it sometimes pays to replace both at the same time. As far as diagnostics, I always found a 4 lane highway at a time when traffic was scarce. I drove the car above 50 mph where the bearing sets up a good "droan noise" and changed lanes both ways looking for a change in the tone of the droan. If you change lanes to the left and the droan noise becomes more apparent or louder, then the right bearing is the culprit or the bad side.........if you bear to the right lane and the noise is louder then the left is the bad side.

(emphasis mine)

Maybe I am reading something wrong, but there appears to be a conflict as to how to understand the noise vs slight turn as it relates to which hub bearing is failing. I will likely replace both, but if we can confirm the slight turn vs noise test process, it would be something NICE to add to Ronnie's website on replacing the front hubs.

David T

[drtidmore]

Yes, driver's side.

As you turn right, the load increases on the LEFT bearing, INCREASING the noise on the left bearing. Extra weight doesn't quiet the noise, it increases it.

Harry, THANKS! That confirms the quote I posted from the thread back in 2011.

Ronnie, What about adding this as part of your front hub replacement guide?

David T

Edited October 1, 2013 by drtidmore (see edit history)

[Ronnie]

,,,Ronnie, What about adding this as part of your front hub replacement guide?

Below is what I added at the beginning of the tutorial. I believe I have got it right but if I don't let me know.

General guidelines for determining which bearing is bad:

Usually when one side is bad the other is not far behind it so it sometimes pays to replace both at the same time. It can be hard to diagnose which side of the car has a bad bearing. Below is a general rule of thumb for finding the bearing that is bad.

As you turn RIGHT, the load increases on the LEFT (driver side) bearing.

If left bearing is bad the noise will increase as you turn right.

Same is true if you turn LEFT, the load increases on the RIGHT (passenger side) bearing.

If the right bearing is bad the noise will increase as you turn left.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Ronnie (see edit history)

[drtidmore]

looks right to me

David T

[Guest Corvanti]

looks right to me David T

yep!