Best way to check wheel bearings?

Stallingrad

Getting a very slight rumble on the motorway so suspect a wheel bearing may be getting grumbly. Any suggestions as to the best way to check and isolate which one? Its very slight so not sure there will be any play in the wheel so is there another way to check?

CJhaughey

Jack the wheels one by one, spin the wheel manually and listen for noises, rock the wheel at 12 and 6 and at 3 and 9 O'clock to check for play.

TheBoyConor

If its only a slight rumble then you probably won't be able to detect any play or noise when you jack it up and spin.

I'd say just let it go and if it is actually something that needs attention the NCT will tell you.

Don't be worrying about it falling off. It would want to be gone absolutely desperately bad for there to be risk of it falling off.

blackbox

It can sometimes be very difficult to determine which bearing is making noise. Sometimes you have to remove wheel and brake pads so there is no other source of noise or rubbing. Unlikely to fail NCT unless there is movement.

Stallingrad

Thanks people, some excellent advice. The mild resonance grates my OCD but as you say, it may be better to wait until it is worse to make detection easier.

rex-x

As a rule: noisy wheel bearings have no play and wheel bearings with play make little to no noise

jca

On a nice smooth straight road drive at the speed when it's noisiest. Turn the steering to the right reasonably sharply if the noise increases the faulty bearing is on the left, if it decreases the faulty bearing is on the right.

TheBoyConor

What difference does it make.

Just drive on it until the NCT make you swap it. Wheel bearings are about 300 euros. Don't be replacing it unless you really have to. And sometimes noisy wheelbearings will last indefinitely long.

mullingar

TheBoyConor wrote: »

What difference does it make.

Just drive on it until the NCT make you swap it. Wheel bearings are about 300 euros. Don't be replacing it unless you really have to. And sometimes noisy wheelbearings will last indefinitely long.

What a load of cobblers

You clearly have no idea about cars.

The nct only checks for play in the wheel, not noise.

Wheel bearings are anything from €20+, mostly closer to €100, rarely €200+

Noisy wheel bearings never last indefinitely. The noise is caused by a part disintegrating internally so it's only ly a matter of time before it gets bad, months at best.

Bad practice giving advice that's dangerous

TheBoyConor

Its not dangerous. How is it?
If there is no play in the wheel it is not in any danger of falling off.

My mothers old car noisy bearing for ages and ages and it caused no issue. A new bearing was €250 so it was let go. Engine went instead after a good while.

The NCT would flag it if there was any real safety issue.

honda boi

mullingar wrote: »

What a load of cobblers

You clearly have no idea about cars.

The nct only checks for play in the wheel, not noise.

Wheel bearings are anything from €20+, mostly closer to €100, rarely €200+

Noisy wheel bearings never last indefinitely. The noise is caused by a part disintegrating internally so it's only ly a matter of time before it gets bad, months at best.

Bad practice giving advice that's dangerous

Can you imagine what this country would be like without an Nct!!!!
Sure only change it when the wheel falls off!

jca

honda boi wrote: »

Can you imagine what this country would be like without an Nct!!!!
Sure only change it when the wheel falls off!

No need to imagine I can remember:mad: driving was a joke, people driving around in lethal heaps of junk, clapped out aul fiats fords and all sorts of dross, crossply remould tyres that didn’t last 5000 miles before chunks flew out of them, cars filling with exhaust fumes from bitsa exhaust systems, holes in the floors, I could go on forever. A new car in the neighborhood would have people flocking for miles around to have a gawk at the “For Reg” plate, in 3 years it would look as bad as it’s clapped out neighbours..

JohnBoy26

jca wrote: »

No need to imagine I can remember:mad: driving was a joke, people driving around in lethal heaps of junk, clapped out aul fiats fords and all sorts of dross, crossply remould tyres that didn’t last 5000 miles before chunks flew out of them, cars filling with exhaust fumes from bitsa exhaust systems, holes in the floors, I could go on forever. A new car in the neighborhood would have people flocking for miles around to have a gawk at the “For Reg” plate, in 3 years it would look as bad as it’s clapped out neighbours..

They still do those, well retheads which aren't much better, and they pass the nct as do part worn tyres which could be decades old

JohnBoy26

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

They still do those, well retheads which aren't much better, and they pass the nct as do part worn tyres which could be decades old

As soon as you drive out of the tyre shop those tyres are part worn,
Doesn't mean they are muck.

jca

BrownFinger wrote: »

As soon as you drive out of the tyre shop those tyres are part worn,
Doesn't mean they are muck.

That's not what he means but I think you know that. I've seen the part worns that breakers are handing out to these suppliers I've seen better on silage pits!!

JohnBoy26

BrownFinger wrote: »

As soon as you drive out of the tyre shop those tyres are part worn,
Doesn't mean they are muck.

Maybe because they aren't decades old and usually have a around 8mm of thread depth and no cracking on the sidewalls.

dr.fuzzenstein

jca wrote: »

No need to imagine I can remember:mad: driving was a joke, people driving around in lethal heaps of junk, clapped out aul fiats fords and all sorts of dross, crossply remould tyres that didn’t last 5000 miles before chunks flew out of them, cars filling with exhaust fumes from bitsa exhaust systems, holes in the floors, I could go on forever. A new car in the neighborhood would have people flocking for miles around to have a gawk at the “For Reg” plate, in 3 years it would look as bad as it’s clapped out neighbours..

One light would shine straight up, one to the side. Headlights filled with water, broken side windows replaced with perspex that had gone completely blind. Cars crabbing sideways, things growing under the seat. Clouds of smoke, rust holes, cracked windscreens and of course rarely 2 working headlights.
In the case of a car I bought, battery not secured, smaller diameter wheels at the front with bits of wood wedged into the springs to "adjust" the ride height and it was a bad diesel conversion. There was a choke button that you had to pull to shut off the engine.
Yep, I remember the days before the "fraud" and "money racket" that was the NCT.

tabby aspreme

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

and it was a bad diesel conversion. There was a choke button that you had to pull to shut off the engine.
Yep, I remember the days before the "fraud" and "money racket" that was the NCT.

An imported Jap diesel bet into a Mk1Transit.
Op check the wheel hubs for excessive heat, another sign of a wheel bearing on the way out

Ultimate Seduction

Wow. My wheel bearing has being making noise the past few months and now the car feels like I'm driving on ice. Didn't think the wheel could actually come off. Is it possible to use a second hand bearing? I have a car same as mine for parts

EPAndlee

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Wow. My wheel bearing has being making noise the past few months and now the car feels like I'm driving on ice. Didn't think the wheel could actually come off. Is it possible to use a second hand bearing? I have a car same as mine for parts

Depending what car it is you could just swap over the hub but if your going to that hassle you may aswell fit a new bearing to the existing part

TheBoyConor

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Its not dangerous. How is it?
If there is no play in the wheel it is not in any danger of falling off.

My mothers old car noisy bearing for ages and ages and it caused no issue. A new bearing was €250 so it was let go. Engine went instead after a good while.

The NCT would flag it if there was any real safety issue.

A collapsed wheel bearing can cause the bearing to lock up which in turn would stop the wheel rotating. It will stay locked up, it will break free and rotate again at least temporarily or it will break other parts under the force applied by the vehicles momentum.

Unlikely to happen in your driveway, much more likely on a main road with oncoming traffic or at motorway speeds where the consequences could certainly be fatal. No exaggeration here.

If you don’t know this you should keep your terrible car advice to yourself in future. You do not know what you are talking about.

Ultimate Seduction

Would it give any warning before it comes off? Mine is making a whining noise, no knocking or anything. It gets louder the faster I go. As I said sometimes the car just wobbles it feels like driving on ice. Ye have me petrified now as I can't afford to do anything to it for a couple of weeks

mickdw

I picked up a tip on how to identify which wheel was noisy.
So jacking up and trying to spin the wheel was telling me nothing as bearing was just starting to noise.
The tip was to leave 1 finger gently onto the spring then turn the wheel. The roughness in the bearing is magnified in the spring and can be easily felt.
Bearing good ...... nothing felt through spring.
Bearing bad ........ spring vibrating slightly.

It works very well.

barneygumble99

mickdw wrote: »

I picked up a tip on how to identify which wheel was noisy.
So jacking up and trying to spin the wheel was telling me nothing as bearing was just starting to noise.
The tip was to leave 1 finger gently onto the spring then turn the wheel. The roughness in the bearing is magnified in the spring and can be easily felt.
Bearing good ...... nothing felt through spring.
Bearing bad ........ spring vibrating slightly.

It works very well.

Great tip, in fact in a lot of cases the vibrations transfer more aggressively to the opposite side of the car in a solid beam axle set up.

Experience_day

mullingar wrote: »

What a load of cobblers

You clearly have no idea about cars.

The nct only checks for play in the wheel, not noise.

Wheel bearings are anything from €20+, mostly closer to €100, rarely €200+

Noisy wheel bearings never last indefinitely. The noise is caused by a part disintegrating internally so it's only ly a matter of time before it gets bad, months at best.

Bad practice giving advice that's dangerous

Can you please fix my bearings? Cheapest quote I've had is the best part of 200 euros...

mullingar

That price guide is just for the part.

Labour is always extra, some cars can be a 30 min job, others 2+hours at the garage rate