Diagnosing Wheel Hub Assembly Problems 98 V70 T5 Topic is solved

aflatt22 · Post by **aflatt22** » 03 Sep 2016, 23:06

About 2 and a half months ago my wife was turning right into a parking lot and turned to early and ran over the curb. She was going less than 10 mph while turning. The day after that i was taking a freeway exit that curved to the left and i noticed a whomping/scraping/light grinding noise coming from what seems like the front passengers side of the vehicle. The noise happened when more weight was being put on the right side of the car.

I had gotten out to look when I arrived at my destination and I saw that tire had a scrape on it right next to a black mark on the wheel. I figured it was some tire damage from the impact to the curb. Over the next couple of weeks the noise didnt get any louder.

About 2 weeks after that I was driving on a windy hilly road and i noticed when I took left hand curves over 30 mph the noise was there, under 30 mph iit did not appear. When im driving in a straight line on perfect pavement I notice a slight noise coming from the right side of the vehicle, then when i shift weight to that side of the car it becomes more apparent. It happens when i coast with no braking and it happens with braking as well.

Ive taken it in to a couple of places and they couldn't get the noise to reproduce. I have had my wheels checked and they werent bent. I had an indy volvo shop replace some sway bar end links and they took a look while they were doing it and said everything looked fine. I had a tire shop do another inspection and they tested to see if there was any play in the wheel hub bearing and there wasnt any.

I have had both cv axles replaced less than 6 months ago and new front struts about a year ago. The tires are 3 months old.

After looking online and digging through forums I think it is a wheel hub bearing that is going out. If that is so, is it safe to drive on it until the noise gets more apparent so i can get it properly diagnosed?

Post by **cn90** » 04 Sep 2016, 09:03

I just went through this issue.

Diagnosing tire noise vs bearing noise can be difficult.
- If you already ruled out tire noise, then the bearing is the likely culprit.
- I drove with the bad bearing for about 3K-5K, the noise gets worse.
- If you suspect bearing issue, don't go on long trip, just do local home/work/shopping stuff.

- If you have the proper tools and techniques, it is not hard. If you don't have the proper tool, then use a good mechanic.
- Re brand: most people here would say stick to Timken-FAG brand (OEM) or SKF because it lasts a long time.
You can certainly use another brand, but chances are it will may last as long as FAG or SKF.

PS: FYI...I replaced my front bearings with FAG at 180K miles.

Post by **sleddriver** » 04 Sep 2016, 10:28

Sounds a lot like a bad wheel bearing. Been there done that on the passenger side. I replaced with Volvo. When I had the old one out in my hands it was very loose. Glad I replaced it when I did.

Post by **erikv11** » 04 Sep 2016, 10:46

The left turn symptoms definitely point to the right side of the car, good detective work. I would be looking at the front right bearing (most likely) with a minor eye to the CV axle that was recently installed. The replacement axles you can buy today are notoriously variable in quality, i.e. mostly crap. Hopefully it isn't the outer CV that got trashed by the curb incident, but again if it was the symptoms would probably be different. Also, if you really want to rule out the wheel beyond all shadow of a doubt just swap your front wheels to back, if the noise stays up front then the trouble isn't in the wheel.

Based on your description, I would go ahead and replace that front right hub bearing. cn90's advice is spot on regarding additional driving and brand preferences.

Post by **oragex** » 04 Sep 2016, 11:46

Only thing I can say, before removing the bearing bolts, turn the bearing by hand & feel for smoothness

aflatt22 · Post by **aflatt22** » 04 Sep 2016, 22:48

Thank you all for the quick replies! In your experience will most repair shops replace a wheel bearing even though they can't 100 percent diagnose the problem?

Also, what symptoms would a trashed outer cv axle make?

Post by **cn90** » 05 Sep 2016, 06:07

1. Honest shop will work with you, taking time to diagnose the problem.
Bad/dishonest shop will replace anything.
So, get word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, neighbors.

To diagnose bad bearing it is not that hard. This is the way I do it (tons of youtube video)
* Let's say I suspect RF bearing.
* Chock LR tires (both fore and aft parts of the tire).
* Raise RF side, take wheels off, remove brake caliper and hang it (photos in forum).
This is b/c a brake caliper will give "dragging noise" confusing you.
Once the caliper is off, the only noise (if any) is from bearing.
* Put the wheel back and gently tighten the lugs.
* Now spin the wheels (turn off all music etc.) and listen for noise, again tons of videos on youtube.

2. Bad CV joint noise is "click-click-click" during turning R or L.

aflatt22 · Post by **aflatt22** » 27 Nov 2016, 02:07

Turns out it was a bad wheel bearing after all. I got it replaced and it is super quiet!