How to Find a Bad Wheel Bearing - EricTheCarGuy

[@beestoe993]

Good stuff. Ive been mechanicing for decades, people come to me for tips and information, but your never too old to learn something.

[@Hectectica]

Hey Eric. I had just replaced my drive axles and seals, and after reassembly had a noise similar to a bad wheel bearing. While it turned out to just be a bent dust cover rubbing the brake rotor, the process in this video helped me track down the problem without having to undo all of my work or spend any money. Thank you sir, I am grateful for the time you take to make these videos, and wish you good health.

[@SkilledEddie]

I agree this is an odd way to check bad wheel bearings. First of all with the tire off the ground it doesn't put a load on the bearings. What i would do is take it for a long drive then put your hand on the back of the hub if it's burning hot that bearing is toast. Also you can use an infrared thermometer and take a reading of the suspected bad bearing and compare it to the temperature of the other bearing.

[@ericllanos7821]

good call my friend

[@arensnapoleon2667]

+Eric Llanos I don't have an infrared thermometer so Ill go with the hand temp method. But this is a simple way with a jack. driving it till its hot might cause more damage. It must be diagnosed without damage. Touch has always been a good indicator in the past though. Kudo to you Eric in the old school....and new!!!

[@BigBrotherIsTooBig]

+Arens Napoleon It doesn't really matter if it's being damaged more. If it's already damaged it needs replacing anyway. If it's so bad that you think the wheel might fall off then the noise it would make would be so bad that it would allow any semi-competent mechanic to know immediately that it's the hub.

[@lgoamity]

Think I may try the Infrared Thermometer trick... Replaced one bad Bearing/Hub 5 years ago... might be time for the other one finally. A "Quick" diagnosis might be useful to narrow things down

[@chevy2061]

Das is good

[@gregsouls2666]

Another good way, those tires that have pressure sensors, the tire will heat up with a bad bearing, tire pressure increases at higher temps, set the pressure the same on all 4, drive for a while and watch the PSI on the meter, the one(s) that the pressure increases is your bad bearing. Works great in the cold north, diagnosed lots of bad ones over the years this way.

[@ProfessorZaitsev]

I'm an ASE Master Tech, I just lift the car up in the air/jack up the wheels and put my hand on the spindle/knuckle or the spring (if it's a Macphearson setup)....Trust me. You can FEEL the roughness in the bearing.. it's beautiful! Plus, it's easy gravy!

[@okhascorpio]

front wheels don't spin that freely, on automatics anyway, to test like that.

[@jdm9947]

Not all bad wheel bearings will have play. Most new style sealed bearings will growl away with no play. I've been working at dealerships for about 12 years now. Eric is spot on. His way is actually better. Most of the time we jack it up and listen to the bearings with a stehoscope.

[@sithlordst32]

Well, I did this test with an AWD so I had to put all 4 wheels on stands, isolating 1 wheel at a time like in the video and HOLY SHIT IT WORKED. Now I am no mechanic, not by a long shot but I changed my bearing myself. The only special tool I needed to buy was a 30mm socket for the axle nut. Thanks "EricTheCarGod".

[@sithlordst32]

Forgot to mention, to take the bearing off I mounted an old brake disk inside facing out so I had something solid to pound on with my hammer. A few taps all around the brake disc was all it took to free that rusty bastard loose.

[@promethius821]

sithlordst32 how did you isolate each wheel? Doing my wife's Equinox which is also awd.

[@BobWhite777]

Just used this method to determine the LF wheel bearing was bad on my 2009 Malibu. Blocked both rear wheels and set handbrake and turned off traction control. Revved the engine slowly and heard the same sound I was hearing on the road. Not on the pass side. Thanks Eric.

[@PeterDiCapua]

Hey Eric, I'm not really a mechanic like you but i always drive the car with out hitting the brakes so the wheels are cold and then after a few miles i measure the temp of the brakes disc. Physics states bearings transmit motion without heat, therefore the hotter of the wheels should have more friction aka bad bearing. I've designed alot of small machines and when i need to find a bad bearing, temperature always seems to help me. Love your videos! Take care. - Pete

[@Noelberg319]

This is what people that tow trailers a lot will do. When they stop after a long haul they feel the tires. If one is hotter than the others. Bingo. Hard to hear a bearing way behind you :)

[@nathanielrodriguez1764]

You are definitely a great mechanic and your videos have helped me so much to repair my car and my sons truck. I have been able to put food on my family’s table because of you and your videos. Thank you so much and keep them coming Eric.

[@REDxFROG]

I couldn't hear the bearing so I floored the shit out of the turbo until hit rev limiter. I STILL COULDN'T HEAR IT. Fell off jack. Got ugly.

[@damon2692]

And your Supra was wrecked......

[@xdygmnyrdf]

The moral is : dont buy a turbocharged car.

[@PaulChristopher4Christ]

Last weekend I noticed a noise coming from my car, my mobile mechanic came to my house and he took it for a drive. He seems to think that the noise is coming from my front wheel bearing. He said that he was only 80 percent sure, but I wanted him to be sure if that was the case before I spent any money. But this video confirmed that mechanic was right. Thank you so much for your video.

[@tractor483]

Yet another way to find a bad wheel bearing: lift the vehicle, grab the coil spring with your hand and give the tire a spin with your other hand. A bad bearing causes more vibration to the spring. Compare the amount of vibration with the other side of the vehicle.

[@vibingwithvinyl]

+Tyce Carbon This. Easy way to check the bearings, no need to run the car, no need to put load on the tyre etc. This just works.

[@ChipperTheChipster]

@@vibingwithvinyl this does not always work, this is equivalent to bench testing a starter without a load at the teeth. In this scenario, some bearings don't make a noise or vibrate until there is a stress on the lil ball bearings. The 4 rings that make up the bearing will spin nice, but when heat or compression factor in, they don't spin as smoothly. It occurs from heat warping the shape of the inner rings or the shape of the bearings. In either scenario, the distance between rings and bearings remain the same, making it look fine, and be a hit n miss as far as noise/vibration. Not saying you are wrong. Jacking it up and shoving the tires around for free play is effective. It just is not fool proof. I want everyone to know that this is not a sure fire way to determine if a bearing is bad or not

[@tennisbum123]

I was a little leery of putting the van in drive while on the jack, but this method worked perfect. I tested what I suspected to be the good bearing (passenger side) first and it was quiet. I then tested the driver's side and there was a definite noise. After beating on the hub assembly for the better part of an hour with a hand sledge (a hub puller was futile with the amount of rust) it finally came loose and I was able to change it out and it's now quiet. Thanks for this video!

[@tankdog03ify]

drove mycar though the back of my garage thanks to this video

[@jthrilla84]

tankdog03 😂😂😂

[@wheeliemasta2337]

Lol

[@Ralulles2013]

Thanks for letting everyone know you are stupid....

[@TraumaER]

I did too LOL.

[@dannyyo7948]

Well .that is easier than doing the wheel bearing. Job accomplished.

[@matthewtimber4780]

When my buddy's wheel bearing in his golf went bad we just drove around and listened for it. It sounded like it was coming from the rear passenger side, so we jacked that up grabbed the wheel at 6 and 12 and gave it a wiggle. There was deflection present so we replaced the bearing and that silenced the noise. This was definitely an interesting way to diagnose the problem but is not helpful with a non-open differential or if the bad bearing is not on the driven axle. love your chanel

[@alexkent4592]

Nice of you to give the kudos to your fan base/ followers

[@jamestapp7870]

Your doing a great job in doing your videos. Some people are just gifted in explaining mechanical problems and you make it seem so easy. I have a Ford Fiesta 2011. When I get the speed up to about 110 kms and then take my foot off the accelerator there's a slight vibration in the steering wheel . I jacked the vehicle up and checked the tire on the drivers side and discovered that there's a certain amount of

[@ericthecarguy]

I appreciate your input, however I have yet to see a tire shred in the way you suggest in MY 20 years of experience as a master technician testing for wheel bearings in this way.

[@SlayerofFiction]

Master technician in your own molding garage? Must be your 25 dollar walmart jack, or is it your free google advertisement?

[@lecagee3467]

@@SlayerofFiction Uh, this vid is 12 yrs old. You are aware he is now a huge internet car guy with a massive dedicated following. And he has a new garage and even a lift.

[@SlayerofFiction]

@@lecagee3467 Yea well 70 million people think Trump was a great POTUS soooo.

[@ChipperTheChipster]

@@SlayerofFiction you bring politics into this? You want to argue about his molding garage and a 25$ jack? I'll do the next step of shenanigans I'd expect from a sorry individual like you LOL Options are 'you need Jesus ' Or 'my grandfather is 40 year certified ASE certified tech and he says this is wrong ' But I'm sure you will surprise me with your next comment. Thanks for the entertainment though! I love people like you ❤️ You give me comfort in knowing that their are still morons to profit off of. (I'll sell you this 400$ jack! It's better cuz it costs more! You pay for what you get! Etc etc)

[@SlayerofFiction]

@@ChipperTheChipster If Jesus had lived he was born a refugee, was brown, with a broad nose and dark curly hair who preached to feed the poor, welcome the refugee and love thy neighbor. Exactly the opposite of what you do and believe.

[@danielkenny161]

Thankyou Eric for posting. When wheel bearing e.g. hub noise most of the time it is the right front; that is because the slant of the road is to the right and your right side take the most wear. As a DYI I purchase two new hubs and first replace the right front as this has always stopped the noise. Than I wait for the left front to go out. Last time it took 50k till I replaced and went bad because of ABS and never roared. My repair is for FWD but for AWD and Pressed Fit I would replace both at the same time but that's a whole other discussion. Note, I say most of the time right because unless impact to the left or always driving in the passing lane:)

[@IloveSPIDERZ]

Scotty Kilmer is good as well! But you seem to go more in depth, and for that, Eric, I thank you as well! I'm happy I found your page and subscribed!

[@marklee81]

They're both great. I've watched all of Scotty's videos, and I'm going through Eric's now. Boy, do I have a long way to go...

[@motief69]

I've done the same thing many times using 2 jack stands (good ones!) and putting a straight edge on the ground next to the tire and watch for trueness while spinning if the bearing is not loud enough yet to find thru sound but causes slight drivability issues. Thanx for your posts, very helpful! Keep up the good work!

[@visigoth2020]

1:19 if you dont habe a jack all you need to do is drive the car for 10 minutes then pour water on the hub bearing knot and see it evaporate bingo you have just found the bad bearing

[@davidhardcore704]

Where did you get this intro from ?

[@visigoth2020]

@@davidhardcore704 it really gets hot super hot due to the frigtion of metal to meta, so when y was going to replace mine y had to pour water to cool it down and it evaporates on contact.

[@bigron26048]

I've been working on cars for over 30 years but you have shown me something I didn't know, "Thanks Eric"

[@daveandrews251]

LISTEN!!!!...If one bearing is going BAD!!!The others are soon to fail as well!!!!"Put car on lift...pull all wheels off..Remove all bearing hubs&cotter pin&castellated nut..Pull collar bearings off of spindle & INSPECT THEM!!!"

[@MrBilld75]

Indeed. Someone asked that question above. If they can all go bad at similar times, or independently. I told him there is no hard and fast rule there, cause both scenarios can happen. Chances are, if one is bad the others are not far behind, quite true and that's a good answer. It all depends on if they were done separately before and don't have equal wear, or if the vehicle is newer and they were all installed or done the same time, or driving habits/conditions etc. If one is bad, you check them all, cause that's a hint there could be more going. That's the best practice, absolutely. As we know from experience, thing can fail in pairs or more, right?

[@teddylovesfrench]

Thanks for mentioning the part about limited slip. I looked at 3 videos already and no one else said a word about it.

[@JordyValentine]

Easiest way to check for an LSD? Rip a skid mate

[@JordyValentine]

+TacticalBBQSauce joking obviously..

[@silosis]

hell nah, why is that a joke. shit is true as hell

[@JordyValentine]

silosis Because I expected a bunch of idiots to take offense to that, since it's youtube comments

[@olbrocko]

Best way: put the car in the air, use your hand to spin the tires, if both tires rotate the same direction=Limited slip; rotate opposite directions=open diff

[@Magnatross]

@Mr Sir dead meme

[@nebafuhroberto6462]

Hi Eric I'm over impressed how this videos helped me when I just began my mechanic career and now . thanks man!

[@halfpoundofnuts]

turn car to left, if it gets louder its the RF, and vice versa . turning the car, adds and removes load. a lot faster and safer.

[@Edmocci]

+loren adams Not necessarily true. I had a hub assembly that roared with no load and got quiet under load. Reason being that when under load sloppiness in the bearing was gone, but unloaded the worn parts were free to make noise.

[@bkpickell]

also to add to that, there are inner and outer bearings. It depends which one goes bad if it is going to roar under load or not.

[@asnowsnowman2312]

More often than not this trick has been right. However it is not 100%, definitely over 60% so it's better than a flip of a coin 😅

[@frankd5871]

1995/6 A6 1984cc ABK manual. Wuhwuh noise from front, turn r or l and speed related. Seemed to be more noise when turning r. After one year or more the noise changed. One time passing a fat 4x4 chelsea tractor at about 70 on a left hand corner there was a lot of noise from the lhs front which gave me a fright. Next day found slack on that front bearing. There was no slack with the wuhwuhs. New bearing on lhs has stopped the noise and the car handles better. Used what I had to get the bearing out - with McPherson strut out, big washers, bolt and heat with hammer. Put the bearing in with a hammer and drifts. 90 quid for the right tools but they may not fit the inside of the Mcpherson strut as it is tapered to the bearing shoulder. Thank you for your well thought out/presented videos. I tried to video what I did but found it too difficult so only made a video of the result of each stage. Need to know what to do and when with another person to help and make the video. Bent the 1/2" drive T bar getting the bearing bolt undone which had probably been there 18 years with the bearing.

[@ProZackBoy]

When he turned on the car inside the shop while its semi-jacked up, my balls shrinked back inside me.

[@fernandomunguia9052]

ProZackBoy I really questioned my dad’s sanity or sobriety when he asked me to do this. Works.

[@eddieguy5956]

Eric , I appreciate the quality of your videos- they are clear and can be followed without a whole lot of trouble

[@jasonjackson329]

So what about the rear ? Do they not have wheel bearings ? I'm wondering how would you check the rear wheels ? As my sound coming seems to be from the back and not front 04 Acura tsx thanks

[@ashleystrychowsky]

JASON JACKSON

[@am529]

JASON JACKSON Is it FWD? If so, you can (after chocking the front wheels) jack up the rear of the car and turn the wheels by hand.

[@macsaba]

JASON JACKSON So you need an RWD car,to check it.. :D

[@MrBilld75]

Yes, the rear has bearings too. All the wheels do. My old Neon (FWD) had a bad rear bearing. It was a cinch to change, really. Even easier than the front. One of the easiest jobs I have ever done and I just had to spin the wheel by hand to hear the rattle or wiggle the wheel side to side to feel the looseness/play. The bearing was so shot, that the ball bearings literally just fell out of the housing once the main hub nut was off and the housing was almost in pieces. Popped in a new one, tightened everything back on and voila. Took under an hour to do and cost me only $15. Plus the cost of the 32mm socket I needed, which was $30.

[@silver-back]

I was introduced to your channel when I was enrolled in a two year automotive course at a community college, and now I'm hook on your wisdom. Love your channel and like you say "stay dirty" .

[@mugruberkyser8189]

" watches dumb ass drive his car threw his house " lol :p

[@travellerdogs]

Thanks Eric, good information. of over 4 or 5 videos yours was the most informational. I usually go to your videos if I am unsure how to do an operation. I have a hoist in my shop and lots of professional tools but I can`t know everything about all different makes of vehicles that I work on.

[@MckWells]

I feel like I can't do this test on my AWD Subaru.

[@Kyrazlan]

Justin Allen false... subaru's dont put all their torque to the unloaded wheel. its a symmetrical AWD system so this will be very dangerous and catastrophic on a suby.

[@sfvirgo]

Kyrazlan not false, if all the wheels are off the ground should be fine. dont think you would do it for too long tho

[@phuturephunk]

sfvirgo Meaning, essentially, if you're not really experienced in floating the car off the ground on jack stands and securing it in place, you shouldn't even think of attempting it.

[@RDEnduro]

I remember my first time putting my Subaru on jackstands to change the suspension (myself with handtools it can be done but in retrospect I wish I had some air tools and an impact lol). I put two extra jacks (not stands) just barely touching the bottom of the car just in case one or both of the jackstands fell maybe they would catch the car. Chock the wheels if your only doing one side at a time for sure. A lot of times with a bad wheel bearing if you have the tire jacked up you can make it wiggle and that's a sure sign of bad news.

[@johnkatkus7143]

Hi Eric - thanks for the way to check which wheel bearing is bad. I like your site as you give information that I can use for the maintenance of my 2004 Honda Civic and 2004 Honda CRV. Please keep doing what you are doing. Direct and to the point - Thanks again.

[@moldovanucalin8827]

Hi, you are my favorite carguy and I have one question. How to find a bad rear bearing on a FWD?

[@MrBilld75]

If it's bad, you can usually her a rattle or weird grinding coming from that wheel when you spin it by hand and if you wiggle the wheel side to side while jacked up (and on a jack stand, be safe) the wheel should have some loose play if the bearing is bad. If it's really bad, the back wheel also might be sitting on a weird/extreme angle too compared to the other side. There is no need to be running the car at all on a FWD vehicle to diagnose the rears and it would not help anyway, cause the rears are not driven by the transmission anyway like a RWD or AWD vehicle and they are just rolling wheels. If it's not really bad, but going, it might be harder to diagnose, but undoing the rear center/axle hub nut and checking/removing the bearing to check it is not hard anyway. It's like a 1/2 hour job if that. I don't know how that changes or works for rear disc brakes, but on rear drum brakes it's not terribly hard to diagnose or change or check. Very easy job really and one of the simplest repairs I've ever done.

[@response2u]

Eric, I can't believe that your videos are still useful after many years! awesome job man!

[@Trohawkk]

Im not sure what happened but my car dropped and now I have a big hole in my garage, any suggestions? Much appreciated, Eric!

[@rusty3leg]

Wanted to say thanks for making this video as it helped me find the roaring sound on my 2001 Ford Focus. The bearing was all rusted on the inside. When I had the wheel hub kit pressed on the parts guy told me that he had never seen one so hard to turn. I didn't buy it from the parts store but from Rock Auto. The brand was Raybestos. I contacted Raybestos to find out if this was normal and they said no. Now I got to go through this all over again not to mention the cost. Thanks again for this vid

[@Skanzool]

Lot of trouble for nothing. Just jack up the car and spin the wheels manually, you'll either hear the bad bearing or feel it catching. If the noise is faint, use a stethoscope or tube to hear the noise.

[@believecross1597]

Sometimes if there is no weight on the wheel it won't make the sound.. then what do you do?

[@leahsadler9579]

BELIEVE CROSS true!

[@barrybritcher]

@@believecross1597 it'll be noticeably harder to spin

[@raguilard]

On front wheel drive cars, some times you won't hear the bearing noise running the car with no weight on it. Because there is 2 sets of bearings in each wheel. What I do in ALL cases, is raise the car up in the air in neutral. Then I put my hand on the bearing housing (KNUCKLE/SPINDLE) under the car and turn the wheel with my other hand. YOU WILL FEEL THE ROUGHNESS IN THE BEARING. That is the one you replace. Always worked for me. I was first A.S.E. Certified in 1978

[@CanadienNortherner]

How to replace the string in a fucking yo yo !!!! If you don't understand don't fuck with it .

[@RonSconiVideos]

Your explanation was very straight forward. I wish I had the tools and time... Oh well, off to the mechanic.

[@RichD746]

Oh, slowly....I thought you said fast. I floored it, it fell off the Jack, and we'll....things got ugly

[@Ralulles2013]

Stop telling lies jack O show us pictures & proof u did this....

[@15cezsa]

Smart guy lol

[@mortegi]

Great video ......thanks for posting.......my mind is at rest now as i know what my noise is on the car......thanks for your help.

[@Hdlc27]

My favorite white guy

[@slvrserfr]

Very informative, have the same symptom on my Nissan SE-R, though it does have an LSD but confident that its the front driver side. Also read that shifting the weight by turning while driving will determine which side it is based on the wheel weight alleviated that's opposite the direction that the car is being turned.

[@tmz1313]

There is tons of ways to check wheel bearing and this being the dumbest of them all, also what might sound like a wheel bearing could just be a bad unbalanced tire

[@TheSeancassady]

With a bad wheel bearing won't you get some movement of tire when you grab it and yank on it when it is off the ground?

[@tmz1313]

Annony Mouse yeah thats how ive always known how to do it. I dont know why he says you need to jack up the car and do a buller lol

[@TheSeancassady]

Tom Ziesmer Ok, thanks. First I thought I just needed to do a brake job so I replaced pads and rotors. Then the sound was still there so I was told I might have a caliper that is sticking in the closed position so I replaced that but the noise remained. On to the wheel bearing!

[@AzeOfSpadez]

Annony Mouse wow they're gouging you!

[@TheSeancassady]

AzeOfSpadez No one was gouging me, I just wasn't looking closely enough at everything when I had it pulled apart replacing the pads and rotors which needed replacement anyways. The only unnecessary item was replacing the caliper, but at 166k miles I figure it's time anyway. All my fault for not paying attention but then again, I'm not a mechanic.

[@ekualumni]

Good video, just be careful!! Definitely don’t do this with an all-wheel drive car. My pantry now contains an engine bay instead of a washer/dryer, but the headlights definitely brighten up my house :).

[@nooranik21]

This seems needlessly dangerous.

[@alexkent4592]

Much safer to keep inside vehicle while someone else checks outside of vehicle ~

[@alexm2623]

What shit at you smoking? Centrifugal force tries to make the wheel fly forward/backward, not outward. It's the entire principle behind how motorcycles stay upright. Regardless, I think they're gonna have a hard time getting through 5 lug nuts torqued to 100 lb/ft.

[@roberthamilton9245]

nooranik21 he did say it was dangerous dude!

[@chrisroma4201]

Thanks for great videos .bought a car that sat for years .was able to locate 3 separate wheel bearing issues.and replace them with out any problems in my driveway.thanks again

[@markgoldman6219]

Loved that way. Was getting confused with other videos thinking might have been inner tie rods. Thanks

[@clamont56]

VERY GOOD. YOUR sound effects are what I needed. Plus the other one was the torque converter video. Both are bad on my car. Thank you very much.

[@ericthecarguy]

@wreckmx I'm glad I was able to help, thanks for the comment.

[@GM572]

The purpose of the wheel bearing is to reduce the friction between the parts in the hub. To make the wheel spin as easily and efficient as possible. I'm telling you, I never had to power a car in midair in my life. Every time I tried to find a bad bearing I listened to the roar while driving to see on which side it's the faulty bearing and hen I tested them by hand. Maybe it won't work ALL the time, but it worked for me so far and it's a good thing to try before powering the car on stands.

[@TheMrStavros]

this is a very very dangerous test you are right.try the other way by touching the spring and spin the wheel.my friend eric,one way to know if there is a lsd dif is jack up the front wheels and rotate the one.if the other rotates same direction is propably lsd.if goes the other way is not.keep up the super work :)))

[@dianemarie909]

thank you ERICTHECARGUY for this video just changed the hub on my chevy venture it was making the same sound had no idea what it could be till i saw this video you saved me alot of money thank you

[@stratmister009]

Spot on! exactly like mine, but real wheel drive with 160,000 miles. The test showed very little play but if it was more I'm sure noise would be much louder and start even at lower speeds. Years ago my mechanic had a jig on casters that he'd roll up to the fnt wheel, turn it on and it would free spin the wheel while fnt was lifted. I think that's an old-school way of diagnosing front issues, he actually could balance the front wheels using the same jig! Now days insurance companies won't allow shops to run a jig like that because I haven't seen that in like 30yrs.

[@patriotinvestor]

There should be an EricTheCarGuy in every country.

[@virtuous_committed]

Man! I am so glad that I found this video I have a 2007 Lexus LS 460 that was making that helicopter sound I bought new tires trying to figure it out and your video was the only video that I found that gave me the exact noise that was going on with my car I thank you so much because now I know I can't get jipped when I go to the mechanic. Thank You.

[@kennethajedwards]

Eric, I just recently stumbled across your videos and am working my way through all of them. I like the way you come up with quick common sense solutions for doing things in different ways and that you show your struggle with some situations. Thank you for keeping the videos real and for helping this car tinkerer guy become better informed and better equipped to do things properly myself.

[@BlkJ19]

and now and days we make cars that the everyday can’t fix look at how much knowledge this guy has people like him need to have a job for a very long time.

[@MantisRay861]

Really cool way to check for a bad bearing. I have AWD so I will never do this on my car, but still good to know.

[@BelalTarek80]

Had this issue before and the both side replaced ! Did not has this idea to jack the car up one side . Thank you

[@Gnuso77]

Eric, Thank you so much for your videos. This is the first one I've watched. It might not be my problem, but it is so nice to have something to give me any kind of vague ideas what might be going on with my vehicle. I'm a 56-year-old woman who likes to have an idea what is going on. Thanks, again.

[@victory37711]

Hey Eric, I've watched many of your videos and it is past time for me to say "Thank You!". My dad taught me a lot about cars and fixing them, but you have shown me specifics about cars we have to deal with today and I really appreciate the info. Great Job!!!

[@ShowStopper0427]

I had the same noise for about a week and I thought it was the wheel bearing too. Happened to be a snapped coil that was rubbing on the tire. Now have to replace both and take back the wheel bearing I bought. Good to check things as soon as possible

[@gudatine]

Thank you for this video, I now know what to tell the mechanic what I need for my 96 Buick LeSabre. that noise (humming) is obvious on the right wheel. I appreciate your videos.

[@jerrydensmore2887]

I recently had this happen on my Blazer and did the check the old school way of placing hands on top of the tire and shaking it hard. Of course it's not jacked up. You will feel any vibrations in your hands and was simple to figure out the passenger side was bad. Let Firestone fix it. $265.00 later and back to normal. Thanks for the info.

[@andrewminty]

Wow, worked great. Thanks much Eric. I was having real trouble guessing even by turning. It's an inherited Impala my wife's been using and the stabilizer bushing nut was completely disconnected on the opposite side as well.

[@dempai]

Dude that was Awsome!!!! Most people just think about posting and you DID. I just needed a second opinion; you confirmed, I went with it and saved me the money I did not have. Tks again man.

[@BMACVAGS]

Wouldn't both wheels move?? If so how would you know which one it was??

[@Charlenedoesstuff]

I don't work on cars...My skills are in the kitchen and with a bottle of nail polish!!! BUT I will definitely recommend your site to a few guys who I know that like to work on cars. Good channel...

[@DvS069]

eric you make some great vid's. i do have a suggestion for a little safer way to check the bearing. find a road where you can do at least 50 km and you hear the noise just gently turn right and left if the noise cuts out as your turning to the right then that is the bearing that is bad. as the bearing will go quit under turning pressure. this is especially good if you get it in the earlier stages of failure. i have used it many times and has always worked.

[@lococali]

good job eric i am a automotive technology student in a community college and your videos are very helpful keep doing it..

[@Troymatti]

Eric , when the noise goes a way on curves especially on the highway it help to determine which side is bad , I have had that test and it really works well , if it goes away on right turn curve means its the right bearing , goes a way on left it's the left bearing

[@tecollins78]

Very helpful. Although if the bearing is not too bad, the noise will only showup if the weight of the car is applied.

[@justz000t]

You saved me hours of troubleshooting and turned them into beer drinking and relaxing time! Thank you!!

[@suzieq8379]

I have this rubbing sound , sounds like its in front I recently got new tires and when they put them on they said they thought they had found my rubbing problem it was the dust cover on the back wheel same side.. He scrapped it for me and said maybe that will help but it didn't.. I'm glad you told me about the lift because a friend works where one is maybe I can check it this way cause I still think its a wheel bearing.. I am a woman but I like to know kinda what is wrong with my vehicle before getting it worked on.. I have my CDL's Class A so I had to learn about a vehicle.. :) I watch alot of your videos, so I thank you..

[@nurulmonin9476]

You're really helpful.i like your all video and I learn lots. I follow you and change my all dirty break fluid with air. Thanks again.you the best. I don't know where you work. But I'm from NY.

[@Zanbor59]

Hi Eric, Man I don’t know how much be thankful helping us with repairing our cars. 1,000,000.00 thank you

[@jerome45662]

dude your freakin genius thats what my car was making but couldnt explain it to anyone and didnt want to take it the shop and get screwed thanks alot

[@jackzvid]

I work on HGV'S (heavy good vehicles for those who dont realise) and to check for wheel bearings we jack up one wheel at a time and jam a tyre lever under the wheel and check for plea in each wheel. if you have plea this could either mean there is plea in the king pin or in the wheel bearing! i have changed king pins on certain wagons which have nylon bushes and are as much use as a chocolate kettle and we have replaced them with standard roller bearing king pins which prove much more reliable.

[@f.santos283]

Hey Eric thanks for everything and taking the time to make these.. Got myself a new Mazda MP3. It needs work and I hope to do it all with you by my side

[@Darxtarox]

You know something else is something I learned from a computer repair guru, and that is, when you're screwing in the printer cable, you want to go evenly and easy, and tighten evenly, starting with one and then next would be diagonally across...somethign they might not know at the tire shop i think i may have just fixed a wobble that I was afraid might be a cv or bearing , also next thing is to grab a 32mm and make sure those axles are tight with a breaker bar.. at 180 ft. lbs. of torque, that's about everything you can muster WITH a breaker bar fyi. i remember the first time I took off my head how i nearly broke my back on each stud, taking 30 minute breaks in between sometimes.. at 190,000 miles, since then i hand tightened it once after about 3,000 miles, and again after about 6-8 months after it threw a code each time, now at 219,000 with only those two code incidents... :) saves a lot of O2 sensor replacements and spark plugs.. in fact last winter i didn't warm up my car in like 10 degree weather and it actually shattered a spark plug, but my coolant was frozen too, which blew out the front of the car.. took me a while to realize it was a spark plug.. but even with some chance of head gasket failure, a good hand tightening is all it's ever needed. also with valves, i noticed, too tight, and your car will bog down before it runs out of gas, too loose and it'll sound like a diesel engine. my gas mileage is comparable to most modern cars, and I drive a 98 civic :D , if you have a bad head gasket failure, like the first time I tried to clean my coolant system with concentrated dish soap... as head gaskets aren't meant to keep out soap bubbles... it sounds like your in an air plane and it's going down... there's some crazy alarms in older vehicles

[@johnsmith-mm1vt]

Plus the fact that a wheel alignment might be in order, do both bearings get it aligned ,done job.

[@ericporter7303]

Eric thanks for the video , found the same problem fixed it and she's back on the road keep the videos coming dude . Thanks

[@castirondude]

in the past I've just lifted the tire a few inches off the ground with the jack and sit down, grab the tire around the bottom end and lift out and up. You'll be able to feel the play. I suppose you could have play without a bad bearing and vice versa but usually they go together.

[@multimediaman256]

First off, love the videos. Very inspirational and informative. Jacking up a vehicle is honestly the most intimidating part of the whole procedure to me because it could be so easy to mess things up. Where did you place the jack in order to lift one wheel like that? Is single-wheel jacking even recommended for anything more than the 5 minutes you'd spend in this video? Do you use any kind of rubber padding for your jack or jack stands? Keep up the great work, I'm slowly watching every video!

[@tennisbum123]

It may not work every time, but it worked perfect for me. The noise was obvious on one side and I was able to replace the hub assembly for $62 and I've never done a wheel bearing before.

[@tcullen5895]

Thanks for posting. I can see why you were hesitant to post

[@ericthecarguy]

@nsx699 It sounds like it could be an electronic issue with the transmission, you might want to see if there are any codes stored for transmission faults that could give you a clue as to what the issue is. It wouldn't be a bad idea to check the fluid level and condition either just to be on the safe side. Good luck.

[@peteriot15]

Just wanna add that this same noise can be caused by a dry CV joint. Not broken but dry of grease. I would prefer to jack the whole front end up and use a stethoscope on the knuckle for safety precautions but great video bro.

[@r100scammellpioneer9]

This beats shaking the wheel by hand, which is not a reliable method fr worn bearings...Suits me fine Thanks Erik, neat job...and for the negative responders, well they presume nobody else has common sense..not so , lots of us have it too.

[@MichaelBorne-rh8co]

Excellent vid. Thanks for this one ETCG, has helped already!

[@robotron17]

If the INNER race of the bearing is damaged, you will hear a clunk with each wheel revolution. OUTER race damage will produce a constant roaring sound.

[@mkrp4]

After testing in drive you put it in neutral and let the wheel freeweheel; the wheel bearing makes noise without load that noise is speed dependent. It also prevents transmission damage if someone shifts to park after test without making sure that wheels are stopped:)