Thread: Wheel Bearings?

so about 3 days ago my car started making a loud humming noise. As if I have 44" tires on it or the sound of a ATV on the highway. I paid it no attention because my tires were really slick. So anyways, today I bought a brand new set and had them balanced. I was hoping this was my issue but the problem continues. So on the way home, I was going around a curve to the left and my car lights up like a Christmas tree. ABS light, T/C off and DIC said check system stability...I drove really slow and made in home after 1 mile...parked it!!! Is it the wheel bearing? if so, which one? about how much is a new one? what do I need to ask autozone when I go in to get the new part? lol dumb but I dunno...cv joint? wheel hub? bearing? etc...

it gets louder as speed increases and even louder when I let off the gas and coming to a rolling stop or braking. it chills out when going around turns to right and is more noticable when curving to the left...

All info on this is appreciated because I don't know crap about wheel bearings in a '06 GP GT

Also I have F-body front calipers and rotors coonverted

Help!, gotta have my car running before Monday when I got some early classes!

thanks...

Jsyk, they come as hub/bearing assemblies, and you can run for a long ass time on a ruined one. My mom's 98 Blazer went for 2 years on bad bearings and I went on my GP for a few months lol. Since you gave such detailed information on when it made the noise, I think it might be the rear passenger side bearing -- mine behaved the same way. The surefire way to tell is to take the tire and rotor off and spin the bearing. If it doesn't spin freely a little bit, it's bad. Test out a couple of them and you should see a noticeable difference. Also, they're pretty easy to replace, especially the rear ones because you don't have to worry about putting the ****ing axel through it. AutoZone doesn't regularly stock the rear ones for some reason, at least not in my area. I was able to find a cheap $90 one at Pep Boys though (I needed it ASAP). For the fronts I recommend getting Timkin (~$150) because the fronts take more abuse, for the rears just take whatever meets/exceeds OEM spec.

Boat is correct about it being a hub/bearing assembly... but I wouldn't recommend keep driving it that way... if the bearing falls apart the only thing keeping ur wheel on is you axle nut. I also would think its one of your fronts because the abs sensor is built in and if that went bad as well would make your abs and trac lights come on.

I would recommend getting both fronts from autozone or advance as they will be lifetime warrantied now. Very simple to install, I'm sure somebody has a how to on here somewhere if you search.

alright that will work...thanks guys...its hot outside, but gotta snatch those rims off...I'm bout to call advance now and see how much the "wheel/hub assembly" are.

Here is a good write up on how to replace those hubs/bearings...

http://www.grandprixforums.net/how-r...ubs-10985.html

I thought it would be one of the fronts too, but I was pissed after I spent ~$300 on replacing both fronts and it turned out to be the rear passenger one. I'm not entirely sure why there's an ABS sensor in it as it doesn't really do anything but spin, but that's just how it was. I think it might be there for passive tire pressure monitoring.

the dash lit up because the front driver wheel sensor came unbuckled...I took both the front calipers and rotors off, found no wear on the bearings. I jacked up the rear and just tried to wiggle the tires, nothing as well...Guess I'll have to drive it around alittle until it gets bad enough to where I can physcially tell which one is bad.

thanks guys...

Well I didn't have any play with my rear bearing at all, but it was shot to ****.

yeah but I don't wanna do what you did, end up replacing 3 and spending too much money.

Well when I had my rear wheels off for rotating (this is before I replaced the hub ass'y) I was able to notice a huge difference in the way they spin. Not so much when I had the wheels on though, probably due to the added weight. There's not much more advice I can give you other than take it to a shop or dealership and have them diagnose it for you.

With someone else driving, I was able to sit in the back seat and it was obvious the hum was coming from the rear vs the front. Then leaning from one side to the other it was obvious which side it was.
I've done both rears on my 05 GP. One was because of bearing hum and the other because I cracked the ABS sensor when doing a strut job (that's another story). You will need a pneumatic chisel to get the bearing/hub assembly off. They get corroded into the mounting hole and don't come out easy.

Originally Posted by WhatNext

You will need a pneumatic chisel to get the bearing/hub assembly off. They get corroded into the mounting hole.

I found a hammer and pry bar work just fine

i'll give it more time to wear that bearings ass out alil more so I can easily tell which one

I know I'm waking up a dead thread, but what was the resolve on this?

I believe I'm having the same problem, but not absolutely certain. My driver side front wheel has a small amount of vertical play (moves a little rocking it at 12 & 6). I have a new wheel hub assembly for the wheel but last weekend when I had the wheel off I noticed the axle nut was not tight at all, so I snugged it to 118 flbs and put the wheel back on. Didn't help and I ran out of time.

The wheel vibrates and I have a humming/groaning sound that only changes with wheel speed. Driving a curve to the right...it stops! On a curve to the left it doesn't stop. I'm not totally sure the humming/groaning is coming from the same wheel, but sort of sure it is.

I was just reading another thread I searched up and I believe you're correct. I'm starting to believe both fronts are bad just in different ways (driver side wiggles, passenger side groans). Right now I have one wheel hub assembly in hand (it's a Timkens as well) so as I have tomorrow off work, I'll put it on the passenger side and cross my fingers is the groaner. If that fixes that one, I'll order another for the driver side.

Originally Posted by isptech

My new front hubs had a paper that said torque to 180 Ft lbs. I have read elsewhere 159 Ft lbs was specified, but 118 seems low. BTW mine had vertical play also at 12 & 6, enough to notice. Stealership told me the front hubs were bad and needed replaced (during routine maintenance) and they wanted $380 per side. I followed the write up here and saved almost $500 . I also had a vibration in the steering wheel, so I knew something wasnt quite right. Replacing both front hubs fixed it, it is now as smooth as glass.

Copied right out of GM SI Document ID# 653267 : Tighten the front wheel drive shaft nut to 160 N·m (118 lb ft).

I got one hub on last night (though I created a problem for myself) so I suspect I'll be ordering the other shortly.

Pfft...no sweat bro!