Wheel Bearing

Czhornet

Hi,

I have a loud noise coming from the front driver side of an 04 corolla, gets worse when braking hard. I think its a wheel bearing. Am i as well to change both wheel bearings on the front or just change the one making the noise?

Thanks.

Baraics Pollox

If it's making a racket when braking hard I'd be inspecting the brakes or pads. If it sounds like metal on metal then it is most likely that.

Wheel bearings going usually give a droning sound that usually gets worse as you speed up but not always.

Have a look at the pads etc and if all looks ok then grip the wheel at the "12 o'clock" position and give it a good rock back and forth and feel for any play.

dooroy

Worn pads tend to just make noise when braking , and at first only on hard braking .
If noise is there all the time its more likely to be a bearing ( unless you have a seized caliper , that side would get hot ).
If you could find a straight section of road with no traffic you could turn the wheel gently from side to side - and see if the noise changes .
As you swing from side to side the weight transfers from side to side also and if its a bearing it will , usually, get louder when weight thrown on to that side and go quiet as weight goes to other side. Not always the case but can give an indication .

blackbox

If it does turn out to be the bearing, there is no point in replacing the other one if it is OK.

dr.fuzzenstein

Wheel bearing should get noisier with more speed. Also, most of the time they will make more noise when turning one way than the other, i.e. more noise when turning left and less when turning right or the other way round.
Rule of thumb, whatever direction you're steering into, it's the opposite side bearing. So if you're turning left and the noise is louder, it's the right hand side bearing, because the outside bearing carries the load through corners.
Jack up the wheels and rotate them, because a shagged bearing will be noisier and sound slightly grindy.
And of course check your brake pads, you may have to take off the wheels at that point, because the inside pad could be gone, but the outside one could look fine.

edit:
And as blackbox says, only replace noisy bearing. Pads, discs, shocks, springs, bushings always in pairs, but wheel bearings, ok to replace one.

Czhornet

Thanks all,

I will jack up the front wheels and give them a go this evening. Will check all the pads and discs while I am at it too....