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Bad wheel bearing / hub assembly

bradleyheathhays

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lexington, KY
I'm dealing with an '02 Volvo S80 that's making a really loud whirring sound from the front pass wheel area that only gets louder the faster you go. After getting advice that it might be a bad wheel bearing I tested it by getting up to speed then steering left and right. The sound keeps up when steering left, when the weight of the car is full on the right wheels, but it stops when turning to the right, so I'm fairly sure it's the wheel bearing.

Although I'm sure I can swap it out I don't really have a lot of time right now, so I'm wondering...is this the type of malfunction that can cause a wheel to just fly off the car without warning?

Again, it's loud.
 
I'm dealing with an '02 Volvo S80 that's making a really loud whirring sound from the front pass wheel area that only gets louder the faster you go. After getting advice that it might be a bad wheel bearing I tested it by getting up to speed then steering left and right. The sound keeps up when steering left, when the weight of the car is full on the right wheels, but it stops when turning to the right, so I'm fairly sure it's the wheel bearing.

Although I'm sure I can swap it out I don't really have a lot of time right now, so I'm wondering...is this the type of malfunction that can cause a wheel to just fly off the car without warning?

Again, it's loud.

Yup, sounds like the wheel bearing. It will keep getting worse and progress into vibrations and eventually it will either seize up or start getting real sloppy. You'll usually have some warning like the noise rapidly getting worse or suddenly quiet. I don't think the wheel can come completely off since the caliper and CV shaft will help hold it in, but things could still get quite unpleasant.
 
Probably is wheel bearing. Not sure what Volvo has for a bearing, probably pressed in. Might be better off finding a spindle knuckle combination. Than trying to press it out without a shop. As Lawsoncl said it shouldn’t fly right off with other things bolted to it, calipers are fairly substantial as are the cv shafts and nuts.
but I wouldn’t trust you life to it especially if it sounds real bad.

Had a 2006 Toyota van make a bad bearing noise, since the van wasn’t driven much it was ignored for a few years, when I did fix it I bought used knuckle assemblies with the spindle and bearings from a lower milage newer van (still the same designs and model), since factory bearings are usually much better than whatever aftermarket is available.
Found out the dealers diagnostic of the bad side was backwards. Not a big deal since I planned on replacing both sides. I thought the dealer was right cause the way the sound reacted to steering. I hate tracing in motion sounds down, so many things affect it.

Just food for thought somebody I know had a set of no name tires that looked good had good tread, the car sounded like front and rear bearings were about to go. Shop she took it said it was the wheel bearings, I though it was the wheel bearings too, the tire shop she took it to for a brake job (they were cheaper than I could buy the brake job supplies) said it was bearings. She was taking a job up north and wanted better rated tires for winter, she bought a new set, still cheap tires but name brand. I was going to do the wheel bearings for the cost of parts. When we pick up the car with new tires all the bearing sounds were gone. Those crap tires were the source and I’ve seen one other car with a good brand name tire (good year I think) with a similar experience. unusual for it to be a tire but possible




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