Hello everyone,
I recently noticed a loud humming noise that is coming from my front end/wheel well. The noise isn’t so much a grind/squeak just a loud hum that I can hear over the engine. The weird part to me is that the noise subsides when I apply the brakes and completely goes away when I turn my steering wheel left. I have never encountered this issue before on my vehicles, so I am not sure where to start.
I did have my front end pads, rotors, calipers, and brake lines replaced on my vehicle a few months ago.’
Can anyone offer any tips? Thanks for any help!
Sounds like a bad wheel bearing
thank you for the reply. I will certainly look more into wheel bearings.
My very quick research shows that I can either replace just the bearing or I can replace the entire hub assembly. I would like to do the repair myself and would spend a little extra if changing the hubs instead of just the bearings is easier.
Anybody have a preference from experience?
If you are doing it yourself, definitely do the hub assembly. I didn’t look at your specific car, but usually if it’s a hub assembly, you will not have to have the bearing pressed in.
This might be a dumb question, I just have never done wheel bearings before. If I go the entire hub assembly route, would I need to remove the steering knuckle? My concern with removing the knuckle would be that if the vehicle would need a re-alignment then.
It will need a realignment, $80, big deal
THIS is the front hub assembly listed on Rock-Auto… not an assembly!
You WILL need a bearing press, and the proper size sockets to push it out. And it will NOT want to leave since its been in there 15 years. If you have to ask if it is a DIY project, it isn’t… for you anyway.
Pay to have it done or you will curse the day you decided to do this yourself.
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I had a new front bearing done on my Corolla last year. Cost $190 including labor. Get it done!
This is a video I took of the noise prior to the bearing replacement.
You can get a loaded knuckle but it is insanely expensive alternative to buying the parts and having it R&R by a shop. I did all 4 corners on my 2003 Camry last year. The fronts cost $35 for a Timken bearing and $40 for the shop with a 40 ton hydraulic press to R&R the hub. Compare that to $230+ for Dorman complete knuckle with bearings from who knows where…
BTW- considering the rust, doing it with a smaller press would have been frustrating to say the least. The rears were a major PITA. Those have virtual interference fit that was rusted solid. I had to almost destroy the old ones to get them out.
