Noisy ... wheel bearings?

[Clint F.]

Wheel bearing noise can be hard to trace.  I've changed the wrong one many 
times, convinced it was the noisy one.  See if you can rock the wheel like 
on a RWD car, and see if there is any bearing slop.  Then take the axle nut 
almost off, and see if there is slop now.  You shouldn't have any movement, 
if there is, you found a bad wheel bearing.  The trick of knowing which one 
by which way the noise gets louder turning isn't good either, because the 
inner or outer race will be different, and it depends on whether the race is 
scored on the top or bottom.  It is a big heavy wheel bearing, but a bearing 
none the less, so extreme care must be taken to keep it clean, and not start 
pressing the hub back in crooked.
The best way to tell which one is if you can get your hands on a non-contact 
thermometer.  Drive the car a while, then crawl under and point it at the 
hub near the axles.  The hotter one is the culprit 99% of the time.

OSU eh?........well, just bring it to me then. : )
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