Possible wheel bearing?

[burnmw]

I've got a loud humming noise from the passenger side when going around right hand bends. Now, I'm fairly certain that it's the bearing gone but there's no play either 3-9 or 12-6.

So, has anyone got any ideas what else it could be, before I have to go through the pain of replacing it.

The noise is louder at higher speeds, is non-existent whilst taking left hand bends/going straight and it doesn't matter what gear I'm in.

I've noticed that the drivers side CV boot has come loose and has lost most of it's grease, could that cause the noise? Or could it be perhaps the gearbox needs fresh oil? Only asking as these are both simple jobs, well, simpler than changing the bearing at least!

[Piggy]

if you jack the wheel up and spin it...does it not make any bad noise??

have you check cv/shaft play?

[Curt]

Bearing doesn't necessarily need to have play to be not very well. The symptoms sound like it could be a CV joint, but that usually presents itself as a knocking. But definitely get that joint packed with grease ASAP

[burnmw]

if you jack the wheel up and spin it...does it not make any bad noise??

have you check cv/shaft play?

No, noise at all. How would I check for CV/shaft play?

Bearing doesn't necessarily need to have play to be not very well. The symptoms sound like it could be a CV joint, but that usually presents itself as a knocking. But definitely get that joint packed with grease ASAP

No, I know it doesn't necessarily need to have play - I'm just hoping it's something simpler! But no knocking at all. The CV joint that's losing grease is the drivers side, the noise is coming from the passenger side - but yes I will pack it tomorrow anyway.

[Piggy]

with wheels on ground, get ya hand on the shaft and try turning it...it should have no play relative to the wheel

[Strikeforce]

When my bearings were shot i had the same symptoms and there was no play either

[Ben Jay]

with wheels on ground, get ya hand on the shaft and try turning it...it should have no play relative to the wheel

giggedy

[burnmw]

with wheels on ground, get ya hand on the shaft and try turning it...it should have no play relative to the wheel

Had my hands all round the shafts yesterday and no play at all.

I think I'm having tomorrow off to do this as its got really bad. Can you think of any other bolts/nuts I'll need to replace as I'll pop in to Pug on my way home tonight and buy them - pinch nut/bolt at the bottom of the suspension strut/back of hub, ball joint nut and the TRE lock nut. Anything else?

Also, noise goes away on a LH bend, so I'm thinking passenger side bearing gone?

[Piggy]

sounds all like a wheel bearing chap.

check heat differences from drivers to passenger...if its humming that bad I would expect it to be roasting

[burnmw]

sounds all like a wheel bearing chap.

check heat differences from drivers to passenger...if its humming that bad I would expect it to be roasting

Had a quick feel after I got back from work and couldn't really feel any heat, except when I inadvertently caught the brake disc

Anyway, there is some 9-3 play actually on the passenger side. So I've undone all the bolts ready to whip it off first thing in the morning and nip it to the garage to swap the bearing. Only thing is, I forgot to undo the hub nut...

So, what's the best way of undoing the hub nut, without anything done up? I'm thinking, do up the pinch bolt/ball joint pinch bolt, put the wheel back on, put it in to gear (5th?) and sit it on the floor, would that enable me to undo it without the brakes on?

[Piggy]

maybe if you chock the wheel too.

[burnmw]

maybe if you chock the wheel too.

Yeah I'll try that as well, just hoping it'll give me enough to crack it off. I've got a 5ft scaff bar to aid with it so hopefully it'll come off easily enough.

[Piggy]

hold the tension on...then give it one big heave ho to 'crack' it loose.

[burnmw]

Right, I've diagnosed this now, and fixed it

Changed the front passenger wheel bearing - all by myself, felt really proud of myself, until I realised that the noise was still there?!? So, back to the drawing board. Checked the rear bearing temperatures after driving home from work (35miles), both the same temperature. But just to be certain, jacked the rear end up, spun drivers rear wheel, silent. Spun the passenger rear wheel... *grinding*... ahh!

So, swapped the rear drum over with a spare with known good bearing and voila, problem solved! In fact, as soon as I took the wheel off I knew it was the problem as the drum was wobbling all over the place!