mywhitewolf

Recently i've replaced my old tires / wheels with new skyline tires /wheels. about a week later i decided to go down the coast for a holiday (about an hour drive at 60/70mph), once i got there i noticed that the wheel would make a slight clicking / whirring noise when i was driving under 30mph... but only on deceleration, but not while braking. after driving around a while (i may have gone through a pretty deep puddle) the noise is now there all the time while coasting, its loudest during deceleration (before breaking) while braking and hard acceleration its the quietest, it seems to get louder / faster the faster my wheels travel, i can also feel the car pull to one side randomly while driving (i dont' drive the car now) which feels exactly like what happend when my fiances car bearing failed until we got it fixed. on the trip home i felt it was only safe to go 45mph home as going any faster would generate alot of vibration while coasting. (accelerating you wouldn't notice the vibration untill well into 65mph, and breaking would stop the vibration regardless of speed...) could it be that the wheel hub is flopping around and when the breaks grab the disk it straightens it up enough to stop noise / vibration?

Now i was almost certain that it was the wheel bearing however after looking up a couple of things on the net something was suggested that the noise should happen regardless of acceleration / deceleration, and only corners should change the noise (which they don't).. if this is the case, what else could it be? i'm going to jack the car up tonight when i get a chance and feel for play, but i'm unsure as to what else i should check.

Any ideas?

GoldMaxii

I have the same problem with my newly bought 1999 maxima...I believe it is most likely the wheel bearing, you can try to go to a big parking lot and completey turn the wheel in either direction, right or left and see if you can hear a grinding noise, decipher the steering pump noise from the noise your trying to hear from the bearing. Also, not sure of the noise your hearing but i know i heard a loud noise coming from my rear caliper, and it would only make a sound when it felt necessary, i replaced the rear caliper and sure enough that was it. There are several ways to diagnose a wheel bearing problem. A worn or broken wheel bearing will usually emit a noise such as a whining, grinding, or squealing. You may also feel the wheel become loose or less responsive while driving. Be sure to pay attention to popping noises or a lasting vibration that continues to resonate after you have gone over rough roads. You can also see which bearing it is by checking if there is any uneven wear on any of the tires(since you just put new tires on, examine your old ones to try and determine which side the bearing needs to be changed on), I will be replacing mine as soon as I can and will post some pics of the job for future reference. Also keep ion mind that on older cars the wheel bearing must be greased every 24,xxx miles so if it wears due to friction that could be the grinding noise you are hearing. Most of the car axles weight is upon the bearing, so a bad bearing will make some unusual noises. Some effects of a bad bearing can include a klunking noise, decreased control from the front end(one side of the car, this will let you know which bearing to replace) as well as your stering wheel shaking alot and your alignment messed up horribly...



Not sure if its the hub, if you find any information on diagnosing the hub it would help me out thanks

trooplewis

iTrader: (1)

??? Where did that information come from? I have not heard of any recommendation to grease the wheel bearings under any kind of maintenance program.

Did I miss that thread?

Bassbreaker

iTrader: (8)

most likely the wheel bearing. I just changed mine and it made that sound the whole time i was driving. Going around turns, straight, whatever. I'm willing to bet that that is it

mywhitewolf

i just jacked the car up and tried feeling for wheel play (12 and 6) in the wheel that i thought the problem was on and there was none, i guess i could explain the jerking off the road as we go over bumps by a bush that apparently is faulty near my power steering pump, (according to possibly dodgy mechanic), but as i turn the wheel slowly i can hear a grindnig noise, so when i get my garage back i'll probably take the wheel off and see if the noise could be something in the brakes? i was just surprised by the compleat lack of play in the wheel bearing...

L0R1DA

Definitely the wheel bearing... I recommend getting both front ones replaced at the same time otherwise one wheel will spin easier than the other and this can cause other issues to manifest later on such as uneven brake wear or even transmission damage in extremely crusty cases.

GoldMaxii

i jacked up my car and i couldnt feel much play, the car shakes alot when i hit about 60mph, and i also noticed alot of wear on the inside of my driver tire, could that mean its the bearing for sure, or the bearing and hub as well. I dont want to do a wheel alignment because they are pretty pricy and i dont want the alignment to go if the bearing is bad, i want to make sure its the bearing, then do the wheel alignment.

should i change the bearing???

mywhitewolf

Updates!!! Turns out the problem was the CV, the inner join (to the transmission) was blown, lucky i kept my old cv shaft (outer join was broken). while trying to diagnose the bearing (sound while rotating) i wanted to take out the cv shaft so i could just move the bearing by itself, as i pushed the cv shaft in to slide it out of the hub, the inner joint made a sqidgy noise (like water was trapped inside) so i took that out and inspected and there was a tear letting air in when i moved it around. (note the noise i was describing got a lot worse after i drove through a deep puddle (almost deep enough to get into the cabin).

anyway, now i have 1 very broken axle and 1 compleatly fixed axle, this compleatly got rid of the vibration and noise.

The car still bump steers but i was told by a mechanic that this was a bush that has failed.