Symptoms of bad wheel bearings?

[Heat]

'95 Camry LE, about 156,000 miles. The struts were replaced about six months ago as well as the CV boots and an alignment, at a cost of about $1,000 (I just got the car a month ago from my mother so I wasn't there when this work was being discussed, plus this is a couple hundred miles away so I can't just ask her mechanic).


Anyway, the steering is a little washy and when I am on the interstate on a curve going pretty fast (65 mph, like an off ramp) there is the sensation that the tires are rolling over. If you ice skate, you know the feeling when you are going around a curve and your legs cross as you are moving along? It's just like that, and about at that pace.


I ran it by a mechanic and he said that he was sure it was the wheel beerings, he'll be looking at it this week. But prior to that I wanted to run the symptoms by this forum to see what you thought, and also to get a ball-park price on wheel bearings for, say, two wheels.

[chullen]

jack up the front end and move the tires up and down and left to right and if it feels excessively loose than you need to replace you wheel bearings, you could also need to change your p/s fluid and check the p/s rack for any tears around the boots

[ghettosled]

when i had bearings go bad, they just started to make a lot of noise. sort of like a loud droaning noise that got louder the faster i went.

since its effecting (affecting??) your steering, have you checked your tie-rod ends and ball joints? those could have the same symptoms as you described.

[profuse007]

at beginning it will be noisy, can be comparable to a busted CV-joint. then it can seize on you if it gets bad enough, which can be very very hazardous, potentially causing a spin out.

[Heat]

Well, it wasn't the wheel bearings. It wasn't a busted tie rod or anything either. In fact, the mechanic couldn't find anything wrong.

My guess now is that the problem may be with one of the tires, they are low-priced tires. I'll look more into that angle plus I think the mechanic wants to take it for a drive (he's really cheap so I let him do whatever he wants).

[Mike Gerber]

Originally Posted by Heat

Well, it wasn't the wheel bearings. It wasn't a busted tie rod or anything either. In fact, the mechanic couldn't find anything wrong.

My guess now is that the problem may be with one of the tires, they are low-priced tires. I'll look more into that angle plus I think the mechanic wants to take it for a drive (he's really cheap so I let him do whatever he wants).

To test his theory, have him switch around the tires and see if the noise moves to a new location.

Mike

[just2day]

"on a curve going ... there is the sensation that the tires are rolling over. If you ice skate, you know the feeling when you are going around a curve and your legs cross as you are moving along? It's just like that, and about at that pace."

I have this same problem develop on my '94 LXE V6. I had new struts and tires put on last year and also new sway bar connecting rods (all around). Previously, I put on front sway bar bushings too. I was told it needed new front struts too, but haven't (budget) done them yet. Could it be a simptom of the front struts getting that much worse? It seems to do it to one side through a curve and then back to the other when going in an opposite curve. I jacked it up, checked it, but nothing seems loose - but who can tell much that way. Thoughts?

[Mister_Perkins]

I would take the car to a tire shop that does alignments. If its "Just a mechanic" He may not have the knowledge of tires and alignments.

A good tire shop will have a balancing machine and they can tell you exactly what the problem is.

I'm not saying the mechanic isn't good or anything like that, I'm just saying a tire pro will have the tools required to tell you exactly what the problem is. May cost you $20 or $30.00 for an alignment and if its a good shop, they will not align it if there is a problem they find and they will let you know before they align it