Possible Premature Wheel bearing failure...Need Help
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2013
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From: NY
Possible Premature Wheel bearing failure...Need Help
So approximately 6 months ago, I decided to get a set of VMR V810 (Front: 19x8.5 ET 35/ Rear: 19x10.5 ET 45) for my 2014 IS350 Fsport AWD. The vehicle has approximately 17,000 miles on it. Prior to installing the VMR wheels my driving experience was quiet (no noise at all). After a few hundred miles or so post install, I started hearing a strange noise coming from the front of the vehicle. I played it off as road noise from the tires (Continental extremecontact DW), as I had no idea of what else it could be. The noise is hard to describe, but it's almost like a "Whoop Whoop Whoop" that get progressively faster as I increase speed. There is also a subtle grind feeling while braking just before a full stop. I did a bit of searching and it seems like the same noise as those who have had wheel bearing failure. The difference is that most, if not all of those vehicles had over 60k-100k miles on them. I'm pretty confident that it's premature wheel bearing failure, but does anyone have an idea what could have caused it? Could it be the wheels? The car is on RSR Downs (w/ alignment). Tomorrow I'm getting new rubber on my stock wheels to see if the noise goes away, but I doubt it will. More to follow. Any help would be appreciated.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 873
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From: CA
Hey Blkshp97!
Definitely no expert on wheel bearing failure, but there may be other factors at play here and perhaps I can assist!
The first thing I would check is tires for proper wear and if the wheels and tires are still in balance. Have the wheels and tires run on a balancing machine, preferably something like a Hunter GSP. This would check to see if they're out of balance.
Next thing to check is making sure you also have even tire wear and tire sizes within 1% of rolling diameter. AWD vehicles can be especially sensitive to changes with rolling diameter. If the tires are not within 1% of rolling diameter to each other, your vehicle may engage ABS and traction control if it detects "slip" from varying rotational speeds.
Our wheels would not be the cause of wheel bearing failure. The V810 wheels on your vehicle now should be lighter or similar in weight to OEM wheels. I've heard of wheel bearing failure for cars sporting humongous chrome wheels that weigh considerably more than OEM, but certainly not a lighter weight wheel such as the V810.
I hope this advice helps! Please let us know how this turns out!
Definitely no expert on wheel bearing failure, but there may be other factors at play here and perhaps I can assist!
The first thing I would check is tires for proper wear and if the wheels and tires are still in balance. Have the wheels and tires run on a balancing machine, preferably something like a Hunter GSP. This would check to see if they're out of balance.
Next thing to check is making sure you also have even tire wear and tire sizes within 1% of rolling diameter. AWD vehicles can be especially sensitive to changes with rolling diameter. If the tires are not within 1% of rolling diameter to each other, your vehicle may engage ABS and traction control if it detects "slip" from varying rotational speeds.
Our wheels would not be the cause of wheel bearing failure. The V810 wheels on your vehicle now should be lighter or similar in weight to OEM wheels. I've heard of wheel bearing failure for cars sporting humongous chrome wheels that weigh considerably more than OEM, but certainly not a lighter weight wheel such as the V810.
I hope this advice helps! Please let us know how this turns out!
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 705
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From: Ontario
Easy way to test for a bad bearing.
Find a stretch of road and drive down the middle of it doing about 15 mph and slowly swerve to the left and right and see if your noise changes. This loads and unloads your wheel bearings and they will change how they sound IF they are bad.
So if it gets louder in the direction your swerving, then that side bearing is bad. When bearings get unloaded they have free play and can make noise. So if you swerve to the right, and the noise gets louder, the bearing on the right is bad.
That is the easiest way to tell. But by your description of yours symptoms, I'd say you have a bad tire or something is up with your brakes.
You mentioned grinding when you hit the brakes and that can only be related to the brakes.
Find a stretch of road and drive down the middle of it doing about 15 mph and slowly swerve to the left and right and see if your noise changes. This loads and unloads your wheel bearings and they will change how they sound IF they are bad.
So if it gets louder in the direction your swerving, then that side bearing is bad. When bearings get unloaded they have free play and can make noise. So if you swerve to the right, and the noise gets louder, the bearing on the right is bad.
That is the easiest way to tell. But by your description of yours symptoms, I'd say you have a bad tire or something is up with your brakes.
You mentioned grinding when you hit the brakes and that can only be related to the brakes.
The pursuit of F
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 8,296
Likes: 303
From: Toronto, Canada
+1 to all the above.
One thing I'd add is you can also help narrow down the issue by jacking up the car, grabing and shaking the wheel to see if there is any play. Play = likely a bearing issue. No play = your issue could be brake, tire, or other suspension/alignment-related issue like too much toe.
One thing I'd add is you can also help narrow down the issue by jacking up the car, grabing and shaking the wheel to see if there is any play. Play = likely a bearing issue. No play = your issue could be brake, tire, or other suspension/alignment-related issue like too much toe.
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 13
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From: NY
Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the help...
Just a quick update... I took the car today for an alignment and wheel balancing. I described the issue I was having to the mechanic. He told me he noticed the two front tires were "Feathered" on the inside. He indicated that the feathering is what is causing the road noise that i've been hearing. Showed me the tires, and I can confirm that they are in fact feathered.
As suggested by brendanf, I took the car out to an open stretch of road to test noise level after swerving left and right. There was not any noticeable changes in sound when swerving. I also jacked up the car and tested each wheel for play, which there was none. I think I can rule out any bearing failure.
- Again, thanks for the suggestions.
Just a quick update... I took the car today for an alignment and wheel balancing. I described the issue I was having to the mechanic. He told me he noticed the two front tires were "Feathered" on the inside. He indicated that the feathering is what is causing the road noise that i've been hearing. Showed me the tires, and I can confirm that they are in fact feathered.
As suggested by brendanf, I took the car out to an open stretch of road to test noise level after swerving left and right. There was not any noticeable changes in sound when swerving. I also jacked up the car and tested each wheel for play, which there was none. I think I can rule out any bearing failure.
- Again, thanks for the suggestions.
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