help please do i need new wheel bearings?

[hunty]

Hi

So i was driving today down to yankalilla for the SA people anyways its about a 250k round trip with lots of open country roads, and what i noticed was that when going through long sweeping turns at around 110-120 there was a real bad vibration through the steering wheel when turning left and a vibration but not as bad when turning right, it feels like a really bad balance on the front wheels but when going straight its fine. Does this vibration mean i've got shagged wheel bearings?

the car for reference is a sw20 turbo mr2 '91

bearings are about $80ea plus fitting should i just have them replaced for good measure or is there something else that could be causing the vibration, i have electro hydro power steering and i was thinking maybe its a servo thing, but it just feels to mechanical to me.

thanks for any help

[oldcorollas]

it does sound (from this far away ) like wheel bearing... jack up the wheel in questions and spin it by hand and listen for any noises... or take wheel off and turn by hand.. if it's anything but smooth, it's bad....

$80 is not so expensive, and good for peace of mind.. but check first anyway

[30psi 4agte]

when you jack it up also grab the wheel at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock (up and down) and see if there is any play in it.

It may also pay to check your tie rods for play too.

[stahlz_ae86]

Could it be as simple as just adjusting them a little bit tighter?

[mrshin]

Could it be as simple as just adjusting them a little bit tighter?

Which is a great idea, IF you have adjustable wheel bearings...

If you're not sure, it's probably not a bad idea to let someone who does know go for a quick ride in the car, they should be able to tell you pretty quickly.

[Smokey228]

Not as likely as the bearings, but my lil bro's snapped the hub bolt off their ae92 recently, and when turning at high speeds it made a wicked noise and a violent shudder. mostly when left and a little when right... Oh, it was the left nut that was gone...

Just a thought

[TA-022]

$80!

i paid $50 for front left and right inner and outwer bearings!

darn newey car parts pricing


possible bearings ... when was your last steering / wheel alignment?

[SL666]

*usually* you will get noise before you get vibration.. but it does sound like it from the different vibration left/right...

[hunty]

wow thanks for all the replies!

last wheel alignment was done a couple months ago, but this is not my daily driver, there is no vibration or pulling to any one direction, well it starts to veer left after about 300m. its only when you put a little like 4-5 degress of left turn or right turn that you get the shuddering/vibration if you turn more like a shaper turn and put maybe 9-10 degress of turn in its fine.

I'll jack it up when i get home tonite and have a play with it and see if i can sus it out. considering the car is 15 years old its probably worth changing the bearings anyway, at least that way if the problem persists i know that its definately not the bearings and i dont have to worry about them going any time soon

tie rods, thats from the steering rack to the wheel hub/steering knuckle yeah? they usually have that rubber seal thing and are full of grease and goo? how would i check that or is it just a replace it and see if it fixes it kinda deal.

the thing is it only does it at speed, like more than 80k/hr. like on my way to work theres a few slight corners that if your doing 80+ you get the vibration but if your only doing say 60 then it feels fine.

thanks again guys

[Wayne]

Wheel bearings usually sound like "grind grind grind, maybe pause, grind grind grind, repeat..."

[LeeRoy]

Since your saying only on turns it sounds more like a wheel breaing than tie rods. Tie rods generally make vibration in a straight line. Wheel breaings will make noise in cornering, cause if they're rooted when you turn and load them up ie have side load pushing or pulling a bearing the noise will come. Since its worse turning one way than the other that seems like the culprit. As mentioned above, check for up and down play and noise when spinning by hand.

All the best - LeeRoy

[LeeRoy]

Thu187 - since your saying its on the rear of the car and i'm assuming it doesn'thave 4 wheel steer then it won't have a rear tierod. However, just because you were told of a possible rear wheel bearing problem don't assume it is the rear of the car as it could be the front.

My advice would be to check this rear wheel bearing through the above mentioned methods first, and then if that seems fine maybe take your car for a wheel alignment and balance which would cost around $60 at the most for all four corners.

Provided your wheel alignment goes well that will eliminate the possibility of having out of align/unbalanced wheels as this will also give a vibration through the wheel and car and will do this in a straight line.

If these things don't resolve the problems you are having i would strongly suggest one of those pedders $14/28pt safety checks as this will more than likely hi-light some other things wrong with your car along with what is causing the vibration.

All the best - LeeRoy

[Smokey228]

Hey, hate to steal a thread, but rememer when i said:

Not as likely as the bearings, but my lil bro's snapped the hub bolt off their ae92 recently, and when turning at high speeds it made a wicked noise and a violent shudder. mostly when left and a little when right... Oh, it was the left nut that was gone...

Just a thought

Well I fixed the axle, and then it started to do it again. The bolt had come loose so i tightened it up alot more, this time with the trolley jack handle and all my weight standing on the end of it...
It was sweet for a little while, then it started again. Now its worst under slight deceleration... I dont understand what would cause this, but im gonna go get all the wheels ballanaced and alligned as i think thats what would of worked the nut loose. I want to cancle that out. But what do you guys think it could be?

Cheers
Jase

[hunty]

ok so i had a look at it, no play in it, no noise when spinning it, wheels are balanced and aligned all ok. Hmm

smokey228, perhaps you have a bad cv joint or there is some vibration in the driveshaft that is causing the wheel bearings to fail, or possibly bent steering/suspension?

[inertia]

When my tires were "out of round" on the nova, I had a similar situation, straight it was fine, but a few degrees of turning and the steering wheel would shake like a mofo...

just a thought.