Growling/Grinding/Chuffing/Clicking Sounds From Front End

Good info, as always.

I actually said 12/6 at first but read what someone said earlier in this thread and edited my post. lol It's good I caught your reply before jacking the car up.

There is definitely some place when pulling on the tire at the 12/6 positions. Should there be no play at all? I might see if Ed is cool w/ giving me credit towards another.

So since I guess this is suddenly going to be maintenance galore quarter while I'm in the middle of tuning a new engine setup, I'm pretty sure my passenger side wheel bearing is going. It makes the growly noise in various volumes, especially after being on the highway on a hotter day like yesterday and I just sorta shoved the tire and it makes a slight knocking noise like it's loose that the other 3 don't make. What bothers me about this is I replaced that hub already on 4/16/09 a little over 21k mi ago with a new SKF. I replaced the driver side one with the same part 3 months and 2k mi earlier than that and it still seems fine... I guess I'll try a Timken this time? I thought SKF used the same bearing as those though.

That SUCKS!

What did you torque the axle nut to? Did you use a torque wrench?

Personally I favor AC Delco/GM for the wheel bearing assys. I know others are okay with Timkens but I have been through a number of wheel bearings on fwd gm cars and the gm bearings are the only ones I really think last.

SKF hub should carry a lifetime warranty. The noise Rick is describing could be the bearing in the transaxle the axle rides in. Mine has been doing it a while when you change wheel position to the right slightly.

So how can one tell the difference between the symptoms of a bad hub and a bad cv joint/shaft?

A bad hub will sound like a tractor going down the road. Your CV will make more of a clicking noise while turning and putting pressure on it.

^ yeah a hub will usually make a constant grinding or howling sound that will change in pitch or get louder usually the faster you go. A CV will usually click on sharp turns and somtimes cause a front end or seering wheel vibration almost like a out of balance tire. unfortunately there are lots of things i have found to cause vibrations lol...

Usually they growl under load, but I've had at least one (TImken hub) that didn't. However it clicked and creaked at low speed, sometimes when turning. I was unable to tell if it was CV joint or the bearing, and when I rocked the wheel it still felt tight. Some who reviewed the video thought a cracked wheel or the brakes, which I could also believe. Turned out the hub had started to fail at 130k miles. I was still impressed with the quality, so replaced with another Timken.

Video: https://youtu.be/kKucypnDNX4

Thanks guys, i am getting the loud humming that goes along with the speed of the vehicle. I also sometimes feel a slight vibration.

RidzRiv wrote:

Thanks guys, i am getting the loud humming that goes along with the speed of the vehicle. I also sometimes feel a slight vibration.

Wheel bearing.

I mean, if you have grease slung all inside your inner fender wheel arches you have at least a torn CV boot and there is an outside change it's fwapping and sounding off - that's unlikely though, especially since you could see that condition readily, you would not have to post jack about it.

Some time ago I posted info about "toasting" wheel bearings driving on the QEW. They hummed really loud. Pretty much like you describe.

Your immediate problem is you must, must replace those bearings before you have a catastrophic failure. They are designed against such failure but you're "on the warning track" and if you don't replace it very soon, when it fails (notice I did not say If) the wheel assembly will separate from the rest of the vehicle and you likely will lose control of it... and if you're going fast enough at the time, you may also lose the opportunity to provide input for your destiny on earth...

...just fix them please


Albertj

If the noise has just started recently, you can determine which side by driving at a reasonable speed (when you first begin to hear the hum), turn the car firmly right & left to see if it gets louder one way or the other. If the hum is louder in a right turn, it's the left hub. If it gets quieter in a right turn, or louder in a left turn, it's the right hub. Be careful testing - you don't need to drive very fast. Avoid dangerous stretches of road just in case.

If this has been going on for a while, I wouldn't chance it. Lift the front end and rock the wheels up & down to test. Good luck and be safe.

So i ordered a front hub from autopartswarehouse. I chose the timken brand due to what i have read on here. Hopefully this week my father and i will get it installed.

Hey everyone, with the added power of my 3.4 pulley and 1.9 rockers, there is a noise in my front end of my 97 that has gotten worse. I'm pretty sure it's either the driver's wheel bearing or the axle, but I don't know which. The noise I get is like a groaning/rolling sound from the driver's side only when accelerating (even then it's kinda quiet) but it gets much louder when I'm turning right AND accelerating, even just a little bit. I'm leaning towards wheel bearing because there is more force on it while turning right, but I just wanted to ask. Since I drive this car nearly everyday and it has 146K+ on it, it doesn't surprise me that the wheel bearings are bad, I don't think they have ever been replaced before.

Thanks
Matt

Edit: I want to add that while cruising normally or going left, I hear nothing.

Diagnosing a noise starts with getting the front end off the ground and having a really good look. Don't know if you have done that already, but sometimes, it is something simple that you can see. Wheel bearings usually make a groaning noise that is constant and changes pitch as you turn the wheel. Make sure you look at the sway bar bushings and end links, as well as the strut mounting and cradle mounts. CV joints usually click on turns.

Sounds like a wheel bearing for sure.

Based on your description of hearing the noise under load, it seems like a classic case of failing left (driver side) hub/bearing, as Dave said. Try listening while coasting (no throttle) and turning hard. This should allow you to identify the noise more absolutely. A bad hub may reveal itself with a grow while cornering, even without acceleration.

Agree with Larry to lift the car and inspect the suspect wheel. If rocking 12-6 o'clock one wheel feels as if it has more play than the other side, you've found the problem. Your mileage is right in the range for typical front hub failure. Mine have failed at around 130k on average. In your case you could replace both sides, or safe a few bucks and wait for the other side to go. Maybe you can milk another 20-30k out of it, and there's really no time saved in doing them together, imo.

Yes I have had the front tires in the air doing other work recently and haven't really noticed any more play in the drivers side tire/wheel then the other. It was really bad when it had a worn out tie rod end on the drivers side. I replaced that and had an alignment done. The noise seems worse recently with the addition of new tires.

I had a hub die last year without seeming loose at all. I was so convinced it was the CV that I bought a new axle to swap in. New hub fixed the issue. Even off the car the bearing spun without much slop. These can be tricky to diagnose sometimes!

Just found this video on how to diagnose a bad bearing. Posted on page #1 of this thread. Pretty cool!

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t5694-growling-grinding-chuffing-clicking-sounds-from-front-end#78323

Well, I made a thread awhile ago about a noise that I've been hearing, but I wasn't sure if it was coming from the engine, or from a suspension component. I think I have it narrowed down to something in the front left of the car.

The noise is a low grumbling noise. It sounds horrendous, to say the least. It almost always starts to happen after I make a right hand turn. It doesn't start happening in the turn, but when I start to straighten the steering wheel. Going straight after a right hand turn, you can hear it. If I continue to turn the wheel a little further left, it gets even worse. The more I turn left after a right hand turn, the worse it gets. I can almost weave back and forth and get the noise to go away and come back. That's one thing I've noticed.

Also, at higher speeds around 55 MPH, you can hardly notice It's there. It's not until I slow down to around 25 and accelerate that it starts to happen. Kind of weird. Any help is appreciated!

certainly acts like bad bearings I have had in the past.
Jbird

It could be a wheel bearing, yes. Depending on how bad it is, some wheel bearing noise will disappear at higher speeds.