Your vehicle is equipped with a set of wheel bearings for each wheel. They are made up of steel balls that are held together by a metal ring. Installed on a metal axle shaft inside the wheel hub, they help reduce the friction as the wheels spin. When one or more wheel bearings go bad, you will begin to notice certain symptoms. This blog post will identify those symptoms so you can get your vehicle repaired before something serious occurs.
Here are some tell-tale signs one or more of the wheel bearings are going or have gone bad:
- You hear a grinding or grating noise coming from the area of wheel. Typically, this sound will increase as your speed increases. It’s occurring because the wheel bearing isn’t properly lubricated and metal is grinding on metal. Several bearings may even be missing.
- The tires are wearing unevenly. Uneven tire wear isn’t just a sign of a bad wheel alignment, unbalanced tires or tires that aren’t rotated regularly. A broken wheel bearing could be the culprit. As you drive, the faulty wheel bearing will cause the wheel to be loose and vibrate. This, in turn, produces uneven tire wear which means you will have to replace the tires sooner than you would under normal circumstances.
- You notice problems with the steering. The main symptom is vibration that occurs when you drive at slower speeds and gets worse as you accelerate the vehicle. This may also result in the vehicle “pulling” to the side of the faulty wheel bearing.
- The steering feels “loose.” Wheel looseness (also known as wheel play), is another common sign one of the wheel bearings may be bad. This can be easily detected when your vehicle is up on a lift. If the wheel wobbles or moves back and forth when rocked, the bearings are most likely bad.
Is it safe to drive with a bad wheel bearing?
No, it is not safe to drive with a faulty wheel bearing. Once a wheel bearing starts to go bad, it will begin to affect other components like the hub, CV joint, axle and transmission. If you don’t replace a damaged wheel bearing before it fails completely, the wheel will seize and you will have an accident.
If you have any concern about the wheel bearings in your vehicle, have them inspected right away. Our auto repair shop in Byram, New Jersey, will be able diagnose and fix the problem. Click here to make an appointment now to have someone look or replace the wheel bearing in your vehicle.
