See full version: How to Know if Your Wheel Bearings Are Going Bad
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Wheel bearings are metal balls held by a ring and allow the wheel on your vehicle to spin with as little friction as possible. Over time, bearings can break down due to a lack of lubrication and typical wear and tear. Driving on a bad wheel bearing can be dangerous, and could cause severe damage to your vehicle if you continue to drive on it. Luckily, diagnosing a failing wheel bearing is relatively easy and you can usually determine if there's a problem by listening to your wheels and evaluating any changes in your car's handling.
Trailer bearings are located at each wheel of a trailer, and allow the wheel to spin freely around the axle with minimum friction. All bearings require a constant supply of lubrication, and must be periodically "repacked" with fresh grease to prevent damage. Lack of lubrication can cause a bearing to generate excessive heat. This heat can destroy a bearing, wheel and axle. Grease-based bearing protectors mount over the top of a bearing and provide a constant supply of lubrication.
Stand to one side of the road or parking lot.
Keep your hand on the wheel and spin it. If you feel any motion that is not smooth, hear any noises, or if the wheel does not spin freely, the wheel bearing is defective or needs lubrication.
There are many sounds coming from a vehicle that are reason for concern, so it’s important to differentiate between them in order to avoid misdiagnosis. Noise can be misleading: a humming noise while driving can be caused by several different issues, starting with your tires, but it can also be the wheel bearing or CV joint. more
A: A bad wheel bearing can cause several potentially dangerous situations, starting with your vehicle not being as responsive as it should be. Your tires will also wear out faster, and you can experience uneven tire wear. Last, but not least, your wheel can fall off completely while driving, as the bearing is an essential part of keeping the wheel attached to your car.
You already know that your car cannot function safely or properly without good, sturdy wheels. What you may not know is that the wheel is far from a simple component. Actually, there is a lot of complexity that goes into the design of a wheel, and several components that must all be integrated together.
Don’t take this often-ignored auto component for granted. Be attuned to these warning signs. At the first sign of trouble, take the vehicle in to have the wheel bearings inspected by a pro. [links]
A: No. It can, in fact, be very dangerous to drive if one of your bearings is worn out, especially since it may cause the wheel to stop while driving. Additionally, a damaged wheel bearing puts a lot of stress on the hub, the CV joint, and the transmission itself.
The classic sounds of a bad wheel bearing are cyclic chirping, squealing and/or growling noise. You can also tell that the sound is related to wheel bearings if it changes in proportion to vehicle speed. The sound can get worse with every turn, or it can disappear momentarily. here
These are different from the engine bearings, as there is no constant source of lubrication for the wheel bearings, which means they need to be tight enough to keep away water and road dust. They also support the entire vehicle weight while driving, which is why they suffer a lot of abuse from rough roads, potholes, as well as lateral forces when turning.
A wheel bearing is a set of steel balls held together in a metal ring, called a race. At the center of your wheels, there is a hollow piece of metal, called a hub. The wheel bearings fit tightly inside this hub, and ride on a metal axle shaft, helping reduce friction when the wheel spins.
In short: A problem with the wheel bearings can compromise the smoothness of your ride and the longevity of your tires, but more than that, it can cause real safety concerns. As such, it is important to have wheel bearings inspected at the first sign of trouble. [links]
Don’t take this often-ignored auto component for granted. Be attuned to these warning signs. At the first sign of trouble, take the vehicle in to have the wheel bearings inspected by a pro. [links]