inspiredbykev

iTrader: (35)

I jacked up my car and shook my front passenger wheel from the top and bottom and it shakes. Also from left to right it shakes. All the lugs are tightened. I know if its a bad wheel bearing it would shake from top and bottom but would it also allow it to shake left and right?

I ordered the wheel bearing already but was wondering if I would have to replace anything else to correct this issue. No vibration on acceleration or when I'm on the highway. I do have aftermarket suspension which could have caused this failure and I also had 19s.

Has anyone ever experienced this?

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

Could be lower ball joint or the wheel bearing. Does it clunk over bumps or humm when turning?

While it's jacked up (and properly supported) get under the car with a light and see if the lower ball joint is moving around and/or the tire moves on the whole hub.
Another quick check to see if it's your lower ball joint is to grab just the bottom of the tire and see if it moves back and forth. If it does it could still be your wheel bearings, but usually indicates ball joints. Best thing to do is look behind the wheel and have someone else move the tire back and forth to see where the play is coming from.

inspiredbykev

iTrader: (35)

when I was under the car the play was coming from the hub area. Should have to replace the wheel bearing then right.

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

If it's for sure coming from the hub, then a wheel bearing should suffice. If that doesn't work you'll probably need a new assembly. Personally, I like to check double check all wearable parts before 100% condeming anything. (Then again the second time around I end up doing the work for free.) I.E. Look at the lower ball joint while someones moving the tire to make sure it's not wabbling around. If it's not loose then yes it's probably a wheel bearing.

Are you getting any humming or clunking over bumps?? Humming while turning usually = wheel bearing
Clunking over bumps and loose tire like you described usually = lower ball joint.

DragdMax

the same thing happened to my car. i just had to tighten the center bolt. that was it.

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

Axle nut? How did that come loose? Any prior work done to your car?

inspiredbykev

iTrader: (35)

I haven't been getting any clunking or humming noises. Maybe I should try the tightening up the axle nut but I pretty sure its tight.

Darius

iTrader: (1)

i had the exact same problem. No humming noise either. What happened was the axle bolt had come loose and that caused the wheel bearing/hub to go bad. Had to get the hub replaced ($180 part iirc) and the labor boosted it up to a $500 repair. My mechanic had to send the assembaly to a different place to have it pressed in. I would say get it fixed asap as its not really safe to drive like that... depending how much play there is in your wheel. Good luck, let us know what happens

P. Samson

There seems to have been quite a few of these "loose" front driveshaft/wheel bearing nuts. Whenever you have work done (or you do it youself) that involves removing this nut, on reassembly it is CRITICAL that it be torqued to the spec. of 188 - 245 ft/lbs. As we've seen, if the nut loosens off you can damage the hub/hub splines, driveshaft splines, cause bearing failure, along with the associated vibs. etc. AND there's the safety aspect as well! There are some real engineering principles involved here, and because of the actual loads put on these parts when you are driving, torquing this nut to specs. is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL. If the work is done at a garage, check to ensure that they actually torqed it to specs and didn't just use an impact wrench. The torque is so high that the final torquing (snug it only "in the air") should really be done with car on the ground because it is almost impossible otherwise to "countertorque" and get an accurate torque reading.

inspiredbykev

iTrader: (35)

thanks fellas for the response.

It was the axle nut that was loose. Tightened it up and solved the problem.

BLUEMAX01SE

Same happened to me with a loose axle nut, got it tightened 2 different times and finally after the 2nd tightening the wheel bearing went bad. Keep a close eye and ear on the wheel bearing noise (humming), if it acts up again, get those wheel bearings replaced. I would think the Axle nut should never just come loose on its own but rather something in the wheelhub assy must be causing it to come loose! Good luck!

Max_Shizo

Glad I saw this. I am getting a clunk sometimes. I thought my stuts were bad so I replaced those with blue hp tokicko. I have a 2inch drop on the car and when I drive it seems to sound like a grinding noise or a rubbing noise and sometimes get a clunk. My axle nut is fine. What do you think I should look at next I am puzzled. Can anyone post a pic of the ball joint your talking about. I really want to get rid of that weird noise.

BLUEMAX01SE

Sounds like your springs are just not seated right on the strut. You may need to re-install the suspension set-up and make sure the springs are seated properly on the strut. (there is a slight curve/bump on the bottom of the strut where the end of the spring should meet that curve/bump but not sit on top of the curve/bump) Good luck!