96 Riv Noisy Front Passenger wheel bearing

I've replaced many noisy front wheel bearings over the years. This one has me stumped! 09.18.2021

In the past 6 months, I've replaced it 3 x.
Once replaced bearing is quieter at first then it grows louder.

I believe I diagnosed the correct wheel. Front Right Passenger.

When I turn to the left the noise gets louder. Car leans to the right side...
When I turn to the right, the noise can barely be heard. Car leans to the left.

I torqued the drive shaft nut to 106 ft-lbs.

Am I missing something or are all these new bearings junk. One was a NAPA FAG...

Any ideas?

Thank you for the help!
Joe

It's not you, the supply chain is collapsing all the way around.

Not everything out of China is junk, but some of it is for sure.  I recently had a Timken bearing that was defective right out of the box.  The sensor lit my ABS/Traction lights on a new bearing.  Problem is, I bought it 3 years ago as a pair, but only used one.  So I was SOL.  I went to the Rockauto site and bought the cheapest one they had, A Powerstop brand.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=8745904&cc=1022038&pt=1636&jsn=437&_nck=ZExt1ysfqhqWnq%2BEvUNdS3Txyey60IDtnjPWF5UU9J0BWQv7pvqZbkEUk86%2BAYIhFUNxSQbBt9GzBQzGFaIpw5YKYgyye84qmqwKYmnlZKaI4RF3qrUwDcekfkKwkkya69EhHWh2zEIX8Y8PWWDNeEtw4aABM5QOdpjDuuK6oK861LRrbIy1TbsawnAcR8YqDwK9N12wCwoadAwiGDXaUMf2JuTIFQM86Icd9Yp07nTPPVDx8epndtkbpp%2BVi3DsrPGJu1KKOo9x2bhswXvuNn2LSIexHIE08GcVa601uUznOfz0HnFLUrDR0UUAVtXqCUlwmgiuw6lRDHCwOgybDxi2aCAYN9b7

Coincidentally, one of their most popular parts as evidenced by the heart symbol.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/buick,1996,riviera,3.8l+v6+supercharged,1022038,brake+&+wheel+hub,wheel+bearing+&+hub,1636

It looked as good or better than the Timken at a third of the price.  I put it on a few months ago.  Still silent.  I bet they are all made in the same Chinese factory.

Two things:

Depending on your mileage it might be the axle.

You might want to get a junkyard bearing or two whole you troubleshoot.  People don't junk their cars over wheel bearings.

You might want to get a spring balance (see the LINK)  - I'm not sure what the spec is but it's findable, and the
catch is that since the bearings are pre-loaded, once you know the spec it's easy to check an installed bearing this way. I think Timken's on-line training has a usable spec for hub assembly preload. I don't remember if the spec is in the service manual. Some dealer techs might be able to just tell you. Point is -- you think you have a bearing issue since you're getting noise, okay then check the bearing with the spring balance.  If it's in specs, then you're looking at an axle R&R. Because if it's the axle and you are swapping bearings due only to the noises, then you will **never** finish (until you dump the car because it has chronic bearing arthritis or whatever you want to call it).

Thank you Gents!

I'll reply when I get to the bottom of this.

Nice drag car!

Joe