Ford van, in those days I was letting the dealership take care of my vehicles. Please see our article on replacing you front rotor. The most obvious would be a howling or grinding noise from a front wheel while in motion. You can borrow or rent one from your local parts store. Thanks for the great post scurvy! Nice pictures of the failed bearings. Sand it lightly and try not to make it worse. Anyone else got new tales to tell? My daughter's car is going on 6 months and we will fix it in the next two weeks.
You can check for a noisy wheel bearing with the vehicle stationary too. Like many modern manufacturers Volkswagen shares components and even platforms across its many model lines. A few gentle taps all around should take it out. Have you noticed a wheel that shakes when you drive? Electric impact guns can be purchased inexpensively and make a great addition to your tool kit. I don't see how it could be related, but the coincidence is odd. Some folks like to put a dab of blue loctite on the threads as well.
Take a break; you've earned a wobbly pop. Put it back in the case. The front ones are pressed into the knuckle by themselves, while the rear ones are part of a whole hub assembly. Don't let the other end come out of the transmission. Figure 8 There are all kinds of ways to remove the hub from the mount, but I have found the simplest to be a slide hammer. This is not a crazy difficult job, but there are a number of pitfalls. It's recommended to use simple green or a similar cleaning product to clean all the surfaces and parts when exposed.
The outboard inner race is stuck on the hub and the inboard bearings and cage are shown here, still installed in the steering knuckle. You can check for free-play by jacking up the front of your vehicle and wiggling the wheel up and down. The side with the bad bearing should be making that gawdawful racket. . I think the tire has been bad for a while, but can only be felt when it's on the front. If you do not have an impact gun you can remove the center cap on the front wheel, leave the car on the ground and insert the 30mm socket through the center.
Before you begin taking everything apart place your new bearing in the freezer. There may also be free-play in the bearing. The bearing will get pushed into this cup. Most cars have an inner and an outer bearing on each wheel. Be sure to follow the instructions as of how to use it. The two bolts colored in red are the ones that need to be removed.
Now that the inner bearing race is out it is time to install the new axle hub. I ended up having to put a three foot pipe on the end of the breaker bar to get enough leverage. You may also want to stick a screwdriver in the vents to keep the disc from rotating if you haven't removed it yet. So I kept on driving 120 miles at 60-70 mph in the first lane. Both sides seem to be doing fine. Another few and it came right out. Pick the one that's just slightly smaller than the wheel bearing but fits in the hole in the back of the steering knuckle but will catch the outer shell of the bearing you can check it against the exposed end of the bearing to be sure.
Amdist all the other things I have going on. Raise and support front of vehicle on jack stands. You could even use the old bearing you took out as the pushing disc if you wanted - you know it's the right size. I've never pulled one apart to see how nasty they can get. They basically failed at the same time, as when I replaced the drivers side bearing, I could hear the faint hum of the pass side bearing starting to go, and by 55k, I replaced it.
I tried to use a small puller to remove the bearing race but to no avail. You must have had the stereo pretty loud to not hear a bearing in that condition. Pelican Parts is not responsible for any typographical errors contained within the site. A 5 pound slide hammer. Drivers most often report squeaking, chirping, squealing, grinding, growling, or whining when their bearings have gone bad.