For the past month or so I have been hearing a "swoosh swoosh swoosh" sound, but only when I had the windows down and was driving next to a wall.

Yesterday, it finally turned into a clunking sound around 30-40mph.

The steering wheel shakes at highway speeds, so I'm guessing its the front wheel.

So here's the question. How much time do I have to replace the wheel bearing before the hub gets damaged as well? If I ordered the parts from DaveB and set up an appointment with a mechanic it would still probably take about a week (don't have access to my tools here). Should I go ahead and get the hub too or should it still be in good shape?


P.S. I will be posting in the SE forum, but since fewer people visit that forum... let me know if anyone around middle tennessee would be willing and able to help me (for $)

 

When mine went it took the hub with it. Get the hub just in case, and if you don't need it keep it as a spare or sell it.

 

Get it fixed ASAP. Mine went out and while the hub was fine, the ABS rotor teeth on the axle were not.

 

It depends on how many miles you have on the car. Chances are the hub is already spun.

 

59k miles. Right now I'm thinking of getting the hub and bearing, and getting a shop to install it asap. I might also get a bearing for the other front wheel and wait until I can get an .org'er to help me with it whenever we get around to that. I'm kind of scared of the labor cost

Does this usually only happen in the front wheels, or all four?

 

usually two front ones...you better be prepared to change both sides.
my passenger went bad first and then the driver side went bad after.
caught me off guard.....
its best to change em out at the same time. they both have the same amount of wear and tear.

 

61K and I've had my front driver side wheel bearing replaced twice, hub replaced once, and lower control arm replaced twice. Unless you catch it almost immediately, I believe you will end up needing a new hub when the bearing goes.

 

Make sure you get new locknuts and torque them to 245 lb-ft.

 

Hey Armon...Im not sure how friendly your local dealer is...but when mine went out at 58k..I took it to the dealsership and they replaced it under warranty for me. It was supposed to be like 800. Its covered in your 5yr/60k warranty. I've also had them replace O2 sensors those are covered up to 80k.

 

if you've been driving with the noise for quite a bit now, chances are your hub has seen better days, personally i wouldn't but a new hub unless i needed one but then again, i have two nissan dealerships 10 minutes away from me so if i went to get a bearing replaced and found a bad hub, chances are, one of the dealerships would have the hubs in stock.

 

I drove on a bad wheel bearing for almost a year on an 00 Eclipse...no damage.

 

I doubt there are any damages to ur hub. I had the same sounds from the bearings and replaced them a few weeks back.... Everything is back to normal with the original hubs.

Used TIMKEN bearings costed me $45/piece compared to the same bearing from stealership for $120/piece.

Take off the steering knuckle from the vehicle, take it to a good machine shop, they will pull the old ones out and push in new bearings.

 

How does bad wheel bearings sound like? Is it like loud windy noise in the cabin even when your windows are closed?

Thanks

 

i just got my wheelbearing fixed as well as the hub...the hub was lik 160 and the bearing was 80

 

I think I drove for about 2.5 weeks when I couldn't chance it anymore. I ended up buying a bearing and then a hub because I decided to wait. Not Coo at all. My hub was diff shot and in two pieces. After I changed it the front creaking noise went away which I thought was sworn suspension.(Noise was subtle for about a year)

BTW I thought the hub assy did include a bearing but from previous posts I'd like some clarification.


P.S Order thru Dave B or an Online Nissan vendor don't show up to your local Nissan and purchase the part there and get

 

I just got the bearing from DaveB; taking it in tomorrow morning. I've probably driven it a total of 20 miles since my first post, never went above 40mph.

I'm a little worried because it has gotten REALLY loud at slow speeds (<10mph). Oh well, I guess if the hub is also gone I'll just suck it up and pay the inflated prices. Driving around with my poor car messed up is a sickening feeling.

 

P.S. one shop in town (which I am definitely NOT going to) told me that they would install a dealer part that I provided, but in return they would charge an extra 20% on labor. I politely said "Nevermind, thank you" and found a place that wouldn't do that.

 

I into a lil DIY but I didn't have everything it took for the install. I shopped around and some shops talked about if I had ABS I would need a new sensor X2 and other BS. I questioned it laughed said shut up clown. Nissan gave me the best price.

 

Gentlemen, if you were a little mechanically inclined then you wouldn't have to hear all this BS for these shops. Buy an impact wrench to get the 32mm axle nut out and the others are a breeze to get the knuckle off the vehicle -- ABS sensore, brakes, strut bolts to the knucle, tie rods and LBJ nuts. That's it take the knuckle to a machine shop and have them press the old ones out and push in the new bearings in...

I spent $80 for the shop and $90 for the bearings (NSK bearings which the stealership quoted $120/piece which I got off the web got $45/piece). What was more laughable was the stealership quoted me $750 for labor.. I slammed the phone down on the service guy who was doing a little more than needed BS with me.

 

How do I order thru Dave B?
My rear Passenger just went out!
Kinda new to this forum, any PM's would be greatly appreciated!!
I have about 100 K on my 2K Max SE, should I think about relplacing the other 3 or just the one making noise?

 

How long do you have? 16 days. 17 tops.

 

if your wheel bearing is already bad, then the hub is gone too. they pretty much go at the same time.

how much time do you have? how much money do you have to fix more broken crap?

really the only stuff that will go south from here is possibly the rotor scraping against the caliper and damaging an axle. but even then you're looking at ~$300 MORE in parts if you decide to wait longer. bscailly you wind up replacing everything on that corner instead of just the bearing and hub. it's all money. pay a little now or a lot later.

your 'cheapest' way out is to buy the parts and rent the large tools from the parts store. i.e. large breaker bar and socket, buy whatever small tools you need, then pull the knuckle off the car. take it to just about any mechanic shop and they should have a press. hand 'em a $20 and ask them to press the new bearing in for you.

10 minutes later, you'll have the new hub and bearing pressed into the knuckle and you'll be on your way back home. take you 30 min to put the car back together, and then go get a front end alignment. it'll take you a 1/2 day at worst to do the job. (I can do it myself in about 45 min, but I have the press and all the other tools at the house...)

It's literally 7 bolts once you get the wheel off. 2 on the strut, 2 on the caliper, 1 tie rod end, 1 ball joint, 1 axle nut.

IMO, that's a whole lot easier than trying to drop the car off at a mechanic, get a ride to work, worry about whether they're going to get it done that day, then get a ride back to the shop, pay out the nose for labor, and then hope they did the job right and didn't shaft you by installing the bad hub onto the new bearing (which will ruin the new bearing in the ffirst 5 miles of use).

 

Matt93SE:

Well said about cost. If you don't replace worn out items soon then you will pay more later (it takes a lot of time/energy more than cost of replacement items for maintaining a old car). My bearing began to take a turn south a few months back (it did not distroy the hub) when we went to Yosemite and there in the park with hit the biggest baddest pothole. The windsheild fluid jumped out out and fell on the alternator and all the lights lit up. Imagine with all these headaches and 300 miles from home, your wife keeps nagging you saying "Why don't you get this damn vehicle serviced by professionals etc etc".

Anyway, as Matt said get the knucle off the vehicle and got the bearings pushed in thro a machine shop. In CA the machine shops are quite expensive becoz labor has jumped to $145/hr, at $80 was the cheapest and best. $20 may be if you knew the person, but then a lot cheaper that $750 quoted by the stealership.

 

That is not a 100% certainty. If the hub passes inspection, there is no need to replace it. My wheel bearing was bad enough that the ABS rotor teeth on the axle had some wear marks in them but the hub itself was in perfect shape.

 

I didn't need to replace my hub either.. no need for an alignment either?

 

I have had to replace bearings 5 times in a year and a half! What the heck is going on? Replaced the hub with the first bearing. I have used 2 different mechanics. 2006 Maxima, over 100K miles. Could there be underlying issues that no one is recognizing? Frustration level is thru the roof!

 

sounds like they pressing the bearing wrong or not using the retaining ring

 

Ive replaced wheel bearings on cars without doing the whole hub. Most of the time if u dont let it get to the point where it locks up and burns you may b ok but i wouldnt drive on it that long. I drove my 87 max til the bearing burned up and had a terrible burning rubber smell/ fried the whole assembly hub and bearing.

 

why are yall's wheel bearings going bad so quickly? 60k miles wow mine gave out at 190k miles and im at 245 now with same bearings in front rears never went...Guess the 4th gens were built better?

 

Replaced my first passenger side wheel bearing at about 125K. Just did the same bearing again at 355k...Driver side has never made a sound.

 

Got my hub assembly OEM for like $60 brand new, and the bearing aftermarket.