Bad Wheel Bearings?

Okay, the sound, if i'm correct, is coming from the back wheels, mostly the passenger rear. I don't know if any of you remembered, but i always complained about a brush sound my wheels made while moving along at any speeds. Now, it seems whenever any weight is applied to the right side of my car (by turning, cornering, etc), i will hear this squeek/scrape (high pitch) sound. I was wondering if it was my wheel bearings getting in worst condition (going from a brush to a scrape/squeek)? It's really annoying and it's really worrying me, since i don't know the severity of this yet. Tell me what you all think!

Thanks
Bryan

PS
After balancing my tires, i still have slight vibrations in higher speeds (around, oh, i duno, 70+). Could this be due to bad wheel bearings? Thanks again!

yep you are probably right bout the bearing.Try jack up thr car and pull and push the wheel,there should be no play here.If any play:bad bearing

If the bearings are that bad they could cause the vibration. However I would look more torwards a bent rim if you just had them balanced.

Sounds more like something rubbing. A bad wheel bearing should sound more like a rumble. Definitly not high pitched.
As for the vibration, if the car is aligned, and the wheels are balanced, probably a bent wheel.

Thanks for all the info. I'll check the freeplay like suggested. It COULD be a bent rim actually. I did use one of my rims from the accident from my 92 alltrac...in fact, it IS the rear passenger wheel that i replaced from the wreck. Wow, a coincident? I haven't gotten an alignment yet, so that might be the problem too.

alltracman78, if you don't think it's wheel bearings, what do you think it could be? What do you think could be rubbing?

also, as for the sound of rumbling...on my way to Dallas at high speeds, me and my friend did notice that my car sounded like a steady rumble...we couldn't figure out why my car sounded like that? it seemed to be coming from the rear. Bah, i may as well just replace the bearings, replace the rim back, get a new alignment. That should fix everything!

Thanks again!
Bryan

Could be something on your brakes. Maybe something rubbing the tire? :|
Your tires will also "rumble". It's hard to diagnos stuff over the internet. 'Specially like that.

Actually, i think it might be my front passenger wheel area! I have to go check this out tnite, it's really aggravating me. Anytime the steering wheel is turned ANY distance to the left (even a hair), it'll make that sound. I believe it might have to do with my rotors. I checked my passenger front rotor, and there's a groove on it (a big hump on it actually). I found that kind of odd...i'll have to check it out. Thanks for the help though!

Bryan

Okay, i decided to just change out all my wheel bearings. How much do they cost and where do you recommend i get them? OEM? Thanks!

Bryan

Make sure the brake dust shield isn't rubbing on the rotor first.

I also wouldn't change *all* of the bearings. Did you plan on doing it yourself? The actual bearing is less than 100 each I think and you'll need a bearing press, but if you're not doing it yourself it's gonna be over 300 parts and labor. The hub also would need to be replaced if the bearing is bad, otherwise the hub will kill the new bearing in no time.

CelicaAllTrac92":219y1esd said:

The hub also would need to be replaced if the bearing is bad, otherwise the hub will kill the new bearing in no time.

Click to expand...

??????

The hub only needs to be replaced if it's bad. If the bearing is bad, you only need to replace the bearing and seals.

UPDATE

alright, i got it. I started figuring it out that everytime I brake, the sound stopped. And also, the more I drove, the worst it got. So i figured i needed new rear brake pads. So i go to take off the pads, and i see that the passenger rear (where the sound was coming from), was down to the metal surface...there was no pad! :shock: So i took a look at the rotor, and it FELT fine, but I should probably get them turned still. I'll do that at a later time. For now, i just got me some decent 23 dollar rear brake pads from O Reily until i get the time and money to refresh all my pads and turn all my rotors. I'm guessing it was an emergency clip/pin that was scraping aganst my rotor/hub or something to let me know my brakes are going out? Do we have anything like this? One thing that concerned me is that driver rear pads were nice and thick still. But, i'm assuming that's okay b/c when i bought the car back in umm..february, she told me toyota did brake work on the rear driver wheel. I guess they were too stupid to replace the passenger too.

One more thing...about that vibration. It made me wonder, could bad/loose tie rod ends cause vibration? I was looking at my front tires, and on the outter edges, it was wearing down a bit faster than it should. I'm speculating mis alignment or bad tie rod ends. What do you think about the tie rod ends theory?

Thanks!
Bryan

Sounds like the pass caliper was froze up, or Toyota didn't replace pads on both sides (BAD). Was their alot of brake dust on the pass side?

If your tire is wearing on the outside edges, the camber is off, which tie rods don't affect. An alignment will solve this.

Most brake pads have a clip that will scrape the rotor when the pad is too low.

there was no dust.

Bryan

Then they probably only replaced on one side. That's pretty crappy.

You think maybe my driver rear brake isn't working? How would i know if it isn't?

Bryan

The passenger side is probably frozen.
It happened to me when I bought the car.
The dealer replaced the caliper under the warranty.

To check if the brake is working or not,
Lift the rear of car up, have someone step on the brake.
Spin the wheel/rotor with your hand.