Noisy ... wheel bearings?

[David Glubrecht]

Running the car with the wheels off the ground (good jack stands) and a
stethascope will point to the culprit as well.
  Dave G


> 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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