wheel bearings
 

How do I tell if I have a problem with my rear wheel bearings? I started a thread on this in 3rd gen tech support but I don't know what happened to that forum.
I have a noise coming from the rear of my car. when I drive. It is speed, not engine rpm dependent. It is a fairly loud, very obvious. It isn't a loud grinding or squealing, just kinda sounds like saying just the wa part of walk really fast. At first I thought it may be tire noise but I am no longer convinced of that. I rotated my tires a couple days ago and I found that I could wiggle both rear wheels side to side. No vertical movement though. The side to side movement was very slight. I couldn't feel it but I could hear the clunking as it moved. Nothing gets hot though, I can touch my wheels right in the center after a long drive and they are barely warm, the differential just gets a little warm.
How difficult is it to replace the rear wheel bearings? Is it something the average backyard mechanic can do in a couple hours? I replaced my fuel filter, I should be able to do anything :D

this guy wanted $280 to fix the front driver bearing and a wheel alignment. how difficult is it to replace awheel bearing?

luigi

You'll hear humming when the bearings are bad. When mine went bad on my other car I also thought it was the tires, but it was the bearings.

Well I don't know about your car but mine started to make what I thought was tire noise. I started snooping around and noticed that my rear tie rpod links had some play in them. If you pull the wheel off and shake the hub assembley back and forth you can see if this is your problem too.

Is it's a bearing it will get louder when it is loaded. For instance, if it were a bearing on the right side it would be loud when you turned left and nearly silent when you turned right.

Try that out. When bearings go bad they rumble and then get progressively worse until it is real obvious.

I can't tell what side the noise is coming from, just that it is from the rear. It doesn't seem to get worse or better depending on the direction I turn, but I do think it is getting worse. Bushings won't do anything but make a clunking noise right? Around $300 seems to be about what everybody wants to replace wheel bearings on just one wheel. Is it really that much work to do replace them?

I have not done it, but was looking in my manual because I have a wheel stud to replace on the rear. To replace the bearing the manual says you have to remove the entire upright/spindle assembly and then press the bearing out. At this point the spindle is still inside the bearing and you have to press IT out. Then press the spindle into the new bearing, and the bearing/spindle back into the upright and bolt the upright back onto the car. I bet you have to remove the strut too since the upright will be off, which means having a spring compressor. Don't forget that removing the upright means having to bust the axle nut loose and removing the brake caliper.

I will look more closely when I do my wheel stud and let you know what I find.