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I had my brake pads replaced at about 100k miles. I was hearing a noise that I thought was a bearing, and the mechanic came to the same conclusion, so I also had the bearing replaced. I drove the vehicle subsequently to work and back- noise completely gone. Driving to work the day after that, I experienced a loud droning noise that increased with wheel speed. Since my original mechanic was unavailable, I took it to another shop, where they told me that the new bearing was bad. Since it had less than 50 miles on it, I was able to get it replaced under warranty. Noise gone again. Within 100 miles of driving, I noticed another noise that sounds like it's originating from the same area (though it's different from either of the first two noises). I haven't gotten as far as testing it yet to see if there are any additional symptoms that suggest a bearing (turning the wheel doesn't seem to affect the noise, but it didn't on the first two either).

So, my questions are:

Is it possible that a faulty installation caused a bearing failure?

Is it possible that another un-diagnosed issue is contributing to any bearing problems?

Could something else be causing noise similar to a wheel bearing that was incidentally corrected while installing the new bearing (something loose, like wheel studs)?

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    any chance its a noisy tire? try rotating tires to see if the noise moves.
    – user4546
    Apr 4, 2015 at 7:35
  • Certainly could be; I'll give that a go when I try diagnosing it further.
    – gp782
    Apr 6, 2015 at 0:34

2 Answers 2

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A faulty installation can cause the bearing to fail prematurely - particularly if it is done up too tight - this is often a problem on older cars that need more axle endfloat than modern vehicles. Also if the bearing wasn't properly greased on installation, the unlubricated wear would destroy it fairly quickly...

It's also possible that other problems such as a serious suspension misalignment could cause premature bearing failure, due to the unusual force loadings that would be applied, but if that was the case then you'd notice the irregular wear to the tyres that would also result...

You can check for a wheelbearing failure by jacking up the car (and supporting it on stands), then trying to shake the wheel vertically and horizontally - there should be minimal, if any, movement. Spinning it by hand may also help you to hear where the noise is coming from

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i went through that a lot every time bad bearing instillation either not aligned right or pressed in too tight. advice change your mechanic

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