mountainwalker Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 The wrr-wrr-wrr-wrr-wrr sound my wife and I heard when driving on curves over 25-30 mph when curving right and left, uphill or downhill, powered or unpowered, which seemed to be coming from the front of the car, was caused by a bad wheel bearing, apparently the Left Front. It could be entirely unrelated, but it happened not long after replacing the axle after the R Front CV boot blew open after it was hit hard by some road debris on the highway + wheels aligned. This is for a 2003 3.0 L H6 VDC Outback 2003 in excellent condition, at 106K miles. Our very good independent garage mechanic recommended about a month or two ago to drive on it a little longer, so that we could be 100% sure which wheel the noise is coming from. Seems clear right now it's the Left Front. He said it wouldn't cause any further harm driving on it longer. It is getting progressively louder to the point where we can hear extra noise in the background even when driving straight. Two questions: 1) A service rep at our local Subaru dealer claimed driving on the bad bearing longer could cause damage to the hub and housing, resulting in a more costly repair. True or not? Who is right - the dealer or the good reliable indie garage mechanic? Note that however many parts need to be replaced or whatever the labor, the dealer costs 2x as much as our very capable independent garage. 2) Does a $585 estimate by the independent garage for parts and labor for replacing the front hub and wheel bearings sound right to you? The dealer quoted $550 parts and labor for just the bearing replacement; an additional $176 for the hub parts if those are necessary, and an additional $294 labor plus more $$$ in parts for the housing if that's necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Based on an experience with my WRX, I'd say wheelbearings are only gonna last a few days at best after they get loud and 'crunchy' sounding. I dunno how long they could 'whir', I had the A/C on high last summer, and the radio! In addition to damaging other parts, they could also be extremely dangerous in a total failure scenario. Edited March 12, 2012 by 1 Lucky Texan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Harik Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Yeh, loosing a wheel on the freeway would cause a lot more damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unibrook Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 YMMV, but I have driven thousands of miles on noisy wheel bearings. But most of our driving is around town. If I were doing mostly hway driving, then I would get them replaced sooner rather than later. If local driving, do it at your leisure within a few months. just my .02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 If the wheel bearing is noisy but tight the chances for damaging the hub or the housing are low, in my opinion. If you drive on it and it gets loose and you don't notice, those other parts might take some damage. If there is any damage the hub will be the item damaged, most likely, you would have to do some really extreme stuff to damage the housing. If whoever replaced the CV joint didn't properly torque the axle nut, hammered the crap out of the axle to get it out, or allowed weight onto the bearing before the nut was torqued, the CV job could have caused the bearing to fail. My '03 LL bean left-front wheel bearing failed at 75k? 80K? 100K? I forget (thread is here somewhere) and I drove on it a looooong time with it making noise. It never got loose, never got hot, hub and housing were fine. Of course if it got loose I would probably notice and so I would drive on it longer than I'd be willing to let my wife. Whoever does the job should have the hub in hand in case it's needed. If there are any signs the inner race has been spinning on the hub, the hub must be replaced. I can't help much on the prices, did all the work myself. On mine it was indeed difficult to isolate the bad bearing, had to spin each wheel with a mechanics stethoscope on the strut spring. I'm now near 180k and it needs the other front or a rear, haven't isolated yet. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Yeh, loosing a wheel on the freeway would cause a lot more damage. Bad things can happen, but this really can't happen with this car. It can get very loose and wobble and pretty much chew the axle right into the bearing races and the housing, expensive and possible loss of control, so something to be avoided, but as you grind to a halt the wheel will still be attached. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Harik Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Getting hot is the deal breaker. Have i ever seen a subaru loose a wheel because of a bad bearing ,no . Have i seen it in dozens of other cars, yes. Edited March 12, 2012 by Robert Harik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Yeah, hot is definitely an indicator it's time to limp home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanurys Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 My last one chewed up the hub/spindle and discolored some metal from heat. Oh, it also wobbled a little and that tire had more uneven wear than the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dballs Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I was in the same situation and kept driving until it was real bad, Like someone else said it damaged the hub which added $150 to the cost of the job. The inner race spun on the hub and wore a grove in it and ruined it. Do it now or the repair will just get more expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 the longer you run on it, the greater the chances of it costing you more. but as has already been said, they will quite often go a long time without causing any major damage. as far as cost - where you live has a lot to do with that - silicon vally, you might be right in line - i had a rear bearing done on my wagon that only cost me about $250 - BUT - I live in northern Wisconsin - major difference. I drove on my bad bearing for several months with no ill effects, other than the noise getting louder and more annoying.. On the Dodge Ram pickup however - when that one started making noise, it only lasted about 60 miles before it wanted to seize up, and the wheel was wobbling...was not a pretty sight at all. If you are certain of which one it is, next time you drive it somewhere, when you stop, check the center of the wheel with your hand - carefully - is it hot? or is it cool to the touch? if it is cool, you should be fine for a while yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainwalker Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 heartless, do you mean check the center of the outside tire tread (which will be warm anyway) or the center of tire around the hub? Thanks all for the good advice. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 center of the wheel - where the axle nut would be - and/or, between the center cap and lug nuts - any heat created from friction in the wheel bearing will transfer out to the wheels in as little as 5-10 miles if they are getting bad enough dragging brakes will also transfer heat to the wheels. Wheel center should be cool to the touch if everything is kosher. When you reach out to check - assume the wheel center will be hot and use caution accordingly - if it isnt hot, you are good. barely luke warm is ok, but would be thinking about it pretty soon - the hotter it is, the worse shape it is in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Also compare side to side. If you brake from a stop going 60mph it's going to warm the hubs up a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Also compare side to side. If you brake from a stop going 60mph it's going to warm the hubs up a bit. front to back as well. being as my car is getting on in age (22 yrs) & mileage (223K), i periodically check all 4, just because. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosen Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 i just drove 800 miles on a clunking front bearing.... ahahaha gonna replace it today. had a guy tell me he drove a hummer that had 500k miles on i with a bad wheel bearing thousands of miles till it caught on fire! ahaha:Flame: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 and the opposite end of the spectrum: 1995 Dadge Ram 1500 (shortbox with a topper on it) - made a 600 mile trip, towing a trailer, drop the trailer off 30 mins from home. on the way home noticed a very slight growly noise...told the other half about it, he looked into what it would cost to get a new hub (easier) for it...never ordered it tho... few days later hooked up the flatbed trailer to it to go pick up a non-running motorcycle only 25 miles away - truck had not been moved since i got home from the long trip, mind you - made the trip over, picked up the bike, started home - bearing failure so bad it had to be put on the trailer to make it the last 10 miles home - it no longer wanted to move, and the wheel was sitting at an odd angle. had to call a friend with truck to tow the trailer home, unload the bike, then come back & get the Dodge.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Running a bad wheel bearing will run the risk of damaging not only the hub, but the brake rotor, caliper, ABS tone ring and ABS sensor. Last time I checked, a new ABS sensor was almost $200 from the dealer. A new hub is in the neighborhood of $130 and so on. I've had customers that had other shops tell them it was ok to run it a bit longer but what people don't tell you is when it will finally grenade. As a mechanic, I don't have a crystal ball that tells me when it's going to break so I always tell the customer, the sooner you do it, the better it is for your peace of mind and your vehicle. I feel like I'm though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Yep - could go at any time. And it will destroy a lot of expensive parts if it completely fails. ABS parts and the hub for certain. Probably brake components as well. Wheel could come off.... but that is less likely. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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