replacement wheel bearing

laingn

Hi

So my car's been making a rumbling noise for a few months. Had 1 mechanic check it and was like it is fine. Had a health check done on Saturday who advised that both front wheel bearings need replaced. I've a 13 plate polo which has done 29,000 miles.

Arnold clark quoted me £437 for the work to be done as genuine aftermarket sales.

I've checked 4 other garages who vary between £240 to £280. Is this about right? i've read online about them only being about £40 to £ 50 a side

Thanks
Natasha

EdGasketTheSecond

Unlikely both sides have gone so if you can identify which side (by cornering and seeing if noise worsens or disappears - google it) then you'll only need to get the problem side fixed. garages like to suggest replacing as a pair but it isn't necessary if only one side has worn.


£120 to £140 per side sounds about right, £40 to £50 doesn't unless you are doing the work yourself!

parking_question_chap

Are they sure its wheel bearings? Did you ask the first mechanic what the noise was if not the bearings?

When I sold my VW it was twice as old as yours with three times the milage. The bearings were the originals.

Noises coming from underneath a car get distorted through the body. Once I had a noise coming from the wheel area and I assumed bearing. Turns out it was some superfluous trim underneath the car that had worked loose and dropped slightly aso was vibrating in the air flow at speed.

AdrianC

£40-ish is going to be absolute bare minimum for ebay no-name parts alone.
So let's double that for the parts - £80 for your garage to supply a decent brand for both sides.

That leaves £160 for labour, £80/side. That's not much over an hour per side.

daveyjp

Wheel bearings are cheap components and manufactured in their millions with variable tolerances.

Some will do hundreds of thousands of miles, others fail early. I have had a new one at less than 20,000 and had one done last year at 45,000. However having two go at the same time is unusual. I wouldn't believe what AC say, find a local garage recommended by friends.

Checking is easy. Raise the car safely and spin the wheel by hand quickly. Or remove the wheel and spin the hub. If it grates and rumbles the bearing has gone and I would want a decent garage to do this first.

Costs depends what is required. Some vehicles you can just replace the bearing, some vehicles require a new hub assembly.

laingn

Thanks everyone for your quick replies. I thought it would be strange that they both went at the same time. They didn't take the wheels off as the stuff in my boot wasn't moved to get the wheel nut. Will get a local independent garage to look at it.

AdrianC

Taking the wheels off won't achieve much in terms of diagnosis, anyway.

If there's play or roughness, it'll be easier to feel with the wheels on.
If they're merely rumbling, that can be heard just as well with the wheels on.

EdGasketTheSecond

They dont always make a noise with no load on them so just spinning may or may not give you an answer. If that makes no noise then the only definitive way is to drive round lh and rh corners at speed (at least 40 to 50 mph) and note the difference in noise as the car's weight is shifted on and off each wheel.

angrycrow

Do you trust the garage who said it was the front bearings.

How old are the rear tyres, front wheel drive cars can cause saw tooth wear on the rear tyres. This sounds just like a failed wheel bearing. Run your hand around the tread front to back, if you can feel the front of each tread block is very raised compared to the block before it you have saw tooth wear.

It is a known issue on the vag pq25 platform your polo uses.

If non directional tyres are fitted swap the rear wheels from one side to the other which reduces the noise over time but won't cure it. Only new tyres will cure it.

z1a

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

They dont always make a noise with no load on them so just spinning may or may not give you an answer. If that makes no noise then the only definitive way is to drive round lh and rh corners at speed (at least 40 to 50 mph) and note the difference in noise as the car's weight is shifted on and off each wheel.

I'd say curves not corners, a corner at 40 mph, a bearing will be the least of their problems.

laingn

Hi all

thanks for all your help. Tyres are reported as worn driver front side 4.5 - 4.7 - 3.9
passenger side front 3.4 - 4 - 3.7 this has decreased a fair bit since it's service and Mot in March. The tyres are maybe 18 months old.

Gonna book into an independent garage to be looked at