Knowing if your wheel bearings are gone/going?

JustAnotherSaver

Car recently went in for a job to be done on it by our mechanic and after finishing it he called to say that the wheel bearings will need doing at some point as "you can hear it when taking corners".

Now i don't know what i'm listening for. I've had the radio off and trying to turn left & right and i'm hearing nothing, nothing overly obvious anyway but i repeat - i don't know what i should be listening out for.

I know there's many cynics on the board & there'll be replies of this guy dreaming a job up to squeeze a few extra quid out of me and how it probably wont even get done but no, we can trust this guy, our family has been going to him for many many years & he's a good friend of the family so it wont be that.


I bought the car late 2008 and since early 2009 i've had a stainless exhaust on the car until around summer 2017, so i've been used to a bit of a 'drone' noise. It had a centre silencer but there was still a deep tone, especially on first startup of the day and also accelerating in the earlier gears.
The reason i mention that is because that's about the only noise i can hear. Like a sort of deep drone noise. It's a standard exhaust on there right now which i did think would be quieter but it's been so long since i had a standard exhaust that this noise doesn't 'stand out' to me.

So i don't know if it could be that noise or not?

Other than that i can't hear anything. The wife always says i'm deaf but it'd help if i knew what sort of note/tone/general noise to listen for.
Is there a way of checking without just listening?

DUTR

When I had my MK2 GTi, the wheel bearings made a drone noise when they were worn I had a big stereo system in th car (15" sub on the back shelf) with the radio off the drone noise was terrible.

flashg67

Worn bearings will feel rough when spun by hand and possibly be able to feel the wear as play by hand. On the road. usually shows as a drone/whine but often only from a certain speed

Gloomendoom

When they do go, your car will sound similar to a Lancaster bomber inside.

mchale

Drive down a empty road at about 20/25 mph and swerve from left to right, if wheel bearings are going you should hear a rumbling/drone noise when the weight of the vehicle in on that side, ie if you hear a loud noise when you have turn steering wheel right hand down then a wheel bearing is going on the n/s, the noise should then lessen when on a left hand lock

[Deleted User]

Gloomendoom wrote: »

When they do go, your car will sound similar to a Lancaster bomber inside.

How old are you

You may need a more up to date audio description

agrinnall

treboeth wrote: »

How old are you

You may need a more up to date audio description

The Dambusters is on TV so often that it's pretty easy to hear what a Lancaster sounds like.

arcon5

The droneing noise is what you need to be listening for.

wgl2014

When I had a wheel bearing on the way out there was a noticeable 'whup whup whup' sound. Kind of like a helicopter in an old Vietnam war film (but not as loud!).
Mine was on the NSF wheel and was quit when driving straight ahead, silent on left hand turns and louder going right.
When I changed it the bearing still felt fine, no play or roughness but once replaced noise was gone.
One final thought, not all bearings are created equal and some are rubbish. If you are paying labour for someone else to fit one then get a decent brand or be prepared to replace it again in a years time!

Ganga

Surely the easiest way to check would be to jack up the car and spin the wheel by hand and also check for free play.

Jackmydad

Ganga wrote: »

Surely the easiest way to check would be to jack up the car and spin the wheel by hand and also check for free play.

They don't always make a noise or feel worn checking that way. They need to be under load. With my old Passat, you could feel a slight vibration in the car on the front bearings before they got to the noisy stage.

Is that Lancaster sound with the engines in sync or out of sync?