Wheel bearings. PLEASE HELP FTW~!

[causeraybay]

does any know if bad or inaccurate wheel alignment can lead to loud (& frustrating) sound from tyres esp. at high speeds- 100km/h: the higher the speed the louder. : ? the sound of tyres is kinda like the same as f1/indy cars

ive changed tyres once & still the loudness of tyres remains.. almost certain it aint the engine, is it just a bad streak of choice of tyres?

[SiReal]

It can be a range of things. Usually its the tyre itself - a cheaper, less technologically advanced, economy tyre usually has a harder compound rubber, hence louder. Also lack of tyre pressure means greater tyre to road surface contact, also meaning more noise.

So i would go for the premium tyre brands - with better compound technology, they may wear down faster, but hell, having no tyre roar is a blissful. also keep those tyre pressures maintained.

quick fix is spray on sound deadener in your wheel wells. seems to have worked for other members. from memroy, costs like $8 a can from autobarn.

[causeraybay]

just brand new falkens fitted on yesterday!

BUT my issue is (n00b q):

before the guy went about fitting the new tyres i asked the tyre guy whether this brand/type tyres will eradicate my problem of loud (HIGH volume) tyre sounds? he told me something fresh- no other mechanic has suggested before- he goes as he drove my car he had realised the loudness already. he knew immediately it wasnt the tyres which was the problem and he even proved it to me that it wasn't by jacking up my car with the wheels spinning mid air and yeh.. the loudness remains. he suspects and is pretty sure its my front wheel bearings. apparently because my car has been lowered differently three times meaning three different setups (including once coilovers), it damaged these so called front wheel bearings. consequently when these are damaged they create loud noises.
has anyone had a similar problem before AND those that have replaced their front wheel bearings did u also experience LOUDNESS when your on the move?

i really dont wanna go about replacing these front wheel bearings with a few hundred dollars and realise these bearings wasnt the causation.. -H-E-L-P-

[weeman]

yes it probably is your front wheel bearings, mine are starting to wear out as i have almost 200 000k's on my car and they are starting to make a noise, even if you get them replaced and it turns out it wasn't the problem at least youve got them done and wont have to worry about them for a long time

[Zilli]

wheel bearing will be noisy at any speed, you mentioned it being prevalent at 100km/h, can you always hear it other than at that speed, if so, theres a good chance it is your bearing

bloody annoying sound too

[Slow96GSR]

I agree with the bearing issue. Now whether it's caused by a bad alignment I don't know. Bearings can go bad for many reasons. Low air pressure, poor wear and tear, too much camber +/-, not packed with grease, bad quality to start and so on. I would pull out the old and put in some new ones. Might cost a little bit but if you get a quality set you shouldn't have to change them for many years. Just make sure to follow bearing manufacture specs on the install.

[aimre]

dont go to honda and get a new one, infact dont go to any shop, other thant a bearing shop. they got bearings for all your needs

[Silver-Arrowz]

Jack the car up and try and move the wheel side to side (push the right side of the wheel in then the left). If it's loose then the bearing/hub is shot and you'll need to replace them.

I had my ones replaced on my MR2 recently and my mechanic told me that the previous person to replace the hub didn't press the hub assembly in properly or something. Didn't make much sense to me but hopefully someone here knows what he's talking about.

[Slow96GSR]

Yes you have to press some Hondas in and if it doesn't go in straight you're screwed. Alignment will be off and as anyone knows things move when they settle and bearings are no different. When they settle to about where they should be, the so called good alignment will then be outta wack, yet the damage is already done. Make sure you press them in as straight as you can and DO NOT hit the inner race of the bearing. Ever try to find some greased up balls then clean them, put them back in the case and use them, not fun!! Yes a little American humor in there!!

[causeraybay]

Zilli: yea the more i think about it, the more i think it's the front wheel bearings cus what else could it be? hopefully it is then i could replace them and then i can drive in peace!

aimre: yeh not planning on buying from Honda but i did go in today to get a quote. $170 per front wheel bearing therefore $340 for a pair of fronts. it was actually cheaper than id expected. but bare in mind i didnt have a clue how much bearings were worth, maybe theyre worth bout $50 (possibly less)? so what is a typical bearing shop? hoping to get the cheapest possible!

[wkdteg]

from honda i believe its the whole hub assembly, not just the bearings. i had the same issue with my da9, 1 mechanic told me they were shot, 170 per side from honda, + 280 for labor.
had my dad take it 2 his shop for a look, turns out they were just loose.
bearings on their own r usually around the $50, picked up some for my falcon at bout $30, but like i said b4, honda sells them as whole hub assemblies. do not try 2 go 2nd hand from the wreckers, as there is no way in tellin whether the bearings r ok or not.
silver-arrowz... when i went 2 the shop when it was jacked up, i tried that side 2 side thing, but i was told it was the wrong way, as u can get movement from the steering. better to try an up-down motion.
there r 2 ways 2 know if a bearing is out, excesive noise and excesive movement. either or. so if ur gettin noise, they could b shot. and if ur gettin movement when it jacked up, then they could b shot.
cheers

[weeman]

wheel bearing will be noisy at any speed, you mentioned it being prevalent at 100km/h, can you always hear it other than at that speed, if so, theres a good chance it is your bearing

bloody annoying sound too

actually when the wheel bearings have gone in previous cars there has been a more prominant sound at one or two certain speeds. eg. in my old corolla ke55 you could here them more at about 60 - 65 then again at 90 - 95 and they made the whole car shake at that speed. got them replaced and was good as new, but in between those speeds you couldn't really hear that anything was wrong. and the same thing with my ta22 but it only done it at over 120. and now the same thing is happening to my teg, but only at about 60kph and only when your making a right turn, so it is in its very early stages of ware