Wheel Bearings????

[deadonkey]

Hi
Ive got a problem with my clio.

When I first noticed a problem of noise it was minor and I just put it down to road noise.

It has however, after around 1000 miles of me first spotting it got slightly louder.
I wouldnt say it is very loud, it is a noticeable level but not ear bleeding.

Have no idea where it is coming from, and it starts at 40 mph and goes up being at its worst at 60mph, when I first noticed a problem it started at 60mph but the speed at where it starts seems to be falling.

Do you guys think this is a wheel bearing going, Im not sure as Ive never had one go before. Is there any way for me to test the bearing such as jacking the car up and shaking the wheel?

Car is a 1.2 16v clio with 96k on it still on all original wheel bearings and original exhaust (2002)

 

[TomTom]

Yeah jack the car up and spin the wheels, you'll hear which one is louder than the others if a wheel bearings gone

 

[Beef-Mc]

Even going round corners the noise should dip if it's a bearing.

 

[deadonkey]

I cant say it dips under cornering.
It dips under braking.

 

[Reyes]

I cant say it dips under cornering.
It dips under braking.

i have that problem. a lil humm noise happens but if i brake it goes away. it happens about 20 - 30 mph with me tho

 

[scotty2hotty81]

Maybe both have failed? under braking shifts all the weight to the front?

 

[deadonkey]

How long do wheel bearings normally last? miles i mean.

Possibly a silly question but is there no bearings that go in the frount wheels?

 

[Fred@BTM]

you have a bearing in each hub on all 4 corners

 

[deadonkey]

are the rear ones more likely to wear out faster. also is 100k a fair mileage for bearings?

 

[Josh@Renparts]

yeh i would be suprised for you not to have had 1 fail by that sort of milage... sounds like a wheel bearing to me.. replace the front 2 to be on the safe side.. have the front ball joints replaced while your there if they havent been done already...

 

[deadonkey]

the front 2 to be on the safe side.. have the front ball joints replaced while your there if they havent been done already...

Why do you suspect it is the frount ones that have gone?
It seems impossible to tell in the car which way the noise is coming from.

 

[Josh@Renparts]

ah right just had that idea in my head... you should be able to tell.. take your back seat bottoms out and if the noise increases quite a bit you have your answer....

 

[Mells]

You might need to take the wheels off to check.

Take wheel off and spin the hub.

When I jacked mine and tried just spinning the wheel I couldnt tell. I needed to take the wheel off and then it was obvious which one had gone.

I did a guide to doing it yourself in my thread about mine.