Front diff or wheel bearingh

[Carlo]

Hi all,
Need some advice. I have replaced the left front bearing hub. Now there is a loud hum when I speed up from 35 to 55 mph. Going faster and the sound gets less noticable. And when I take a fast left corner, as in leaving a freeway it disappears altogether. I can feel it in my steering wheel as well. Does this sound like the right front bearing is broken or could it be the front diff? I understand that I should have it checked out but here in my area in the Netherlands there are not that many experts and they are expensive....So thought I first try the experts in this great forum to give me some insight. Thanks.

 

[Foggy]

If you are turning or 'leaning' a left corner - the weight would be on the right side..
So I'd suspect your right bearing is bad too.. Probably was on it's way and now with'the left
side all done you notice the noise

 

[Carlo]

Thanks for your reaction, Foggy. I had the left bearing replaced last month and he checked the right one of course. But it seemed alright. So like the advice here mostly is, if you replace one, replace the other one too.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

You can put the truck on the lift with the wheels suspended in the air, with a mechanic in the drivers seat, and put it into gear and accelerate the gas pedal to 35 mph. A second mechanic with a stethoscope can check out the rotating assemblies from underneath the truck to identify the source of the noise. If there is reduced or no noise, that would point to the right hub/bearing as the source on the issue, since it is not loaded with the weight of the truck.

 

[mikez71]

If you are turning or 'leaning' a left corner - the weight would be on the right side..
So I'd suspect your right bearing is bad too..

Except it makes noise when not leaning right, and gets quiet when leaning right?

I wonder if the replacement (left side) went bad already..

 

[j91z28d1]

Except it makes noise when not leaning right, and gets quiet when leaning right?

I wonder if the replacement (left side) went bad already..

this was my thought too. a local shop just ordered from their local napa and it's failed already. so many bad parts it's getting crazy. I'm scared to touch anything thats not completely falling apart, and even then you might have to do the same job 3 times to fix it. most annoying thing ever.

 

[petethepug]

It could always be a case of someone being slick and cleaning up the old part, replacing it with the new part and boxing it back up for a return to get their money back.

 

[Carlo]

Thanks everybody for your insights. The noise stops when I turn left at moderate to higher speed. Left bearing was replaced last month, I was there when the mechanic replaced it. It came in a box from Rock auto. Will try to find a mechanic that can put it on a bridge with the wheels suspended in the air. It's got 110k miles now, so time to replace stuff I guess

 

[Larryjb]

I have had bad wheel bearings and not been able to feel a thing when raising the vehicle to spin or rock the wheel by hand. The bearing was so bad we had to speak up louder while driving. However, by the time I removed the tire, brakes, and disk, I was then able to feel roughness in the bearing when spinning. Certainly, I have never had a wheel bearing so bad it was actually flopping around.