Based on my experience, it’s usually a binding slide pins of the brakes or wheel bearing (two things you already mentioned). The only way to know for sure if put the car up in the air and inspect the wheel when turning by hand. A little friction will cause additional warmth. Locked up slide pins or brake piston or failing bearing can cause the wheel to be too hot to touch and will be more obvious.

 

Is it possible for these pins to have issues (lubrication / binding issues) even if the brakes have never been serviced (replaced or disassembled, etc). No brake work has been done to the car since new.

Although now that I think of it, the center (where the Toyota cap is) was hotter than the outer parts of the rim, so maybe it might be a bearing and not a brake calpier/pins...? I guess I'll have to have it checked out. If it is a bearing, then it might be in the early stages of failure (no noise that I can tell, both at low and high speed, even "loading" the bearing while driving).

 

My 18 XLE has made a faint very bearing-like noise from the front driver's side for as long as I've owned it. I just replaced the pads and rotors 3 weeks ago and I know everyting there is newly greased and sliding free now.

I only recently thought to check the wheel temperature. The driver's front wheel is about 15-20F warmer than the passenger front. I've got an OE hub on the way, I'm going to swap it hopefully next weekend and I'll report back on if that equalizes the temperatures.

 

My 18 XLE has made a faint very bearing-like noise from the front driver's side for as long as I've owned it. I just replaced the pads and rotors 3 weeks ago and I know everyting there is newly greased and sliding free now.

I only recently thought to check the wheel temperature. The driver's front wheel is about 15-20F warmer than the passenger front. I've got an OE hub on the way, I'm going to swap it hopefully next weekend and I'll report back on if that equalizes the temperatures.

OK thanks. I did quickly check mine and I don't see anything out of the ordinary as far as the brakes and wheel bearing are concerned but again, it's possible at least in the case of the wheel bearing, it's in the very early stages of failure. I might just monitor it at this point as there is no audible noise that I can tell from any of them in regards to bearing noise. I may take it to a shop this week and just have someone put it on a lift (all I could do is lift up the front with 2 jacks to check and spin the wheel, but I'm also not a mechanic either so I could be missing something.

 

I always set my tire pressures to the tenth of a PSI. My car since new has always had that tire about 1PSI higher than the rest after long highway driving.

Around 10K I noticed a noise while driving and I think it might just be the tires. If it ends up being a bearing i'll handle accordingly once the issue becomes more obvious.

 

I always set my tire pressures to the tenth of a PSI. My car since new has always had that tire about 1PSI higher than the rest after long highway driving.

Around 10K I noticed a noise while driving and I think it might just be the tires. If it ends up being a bearing i'll handle accordingly once the issue becomes more obvious.

Interesting that you mention this.
My drivers front tire has also regularly been 1psi hot warmer than the passenger side and I never put 2 and 2 together that it might be temperature related until recently. I got it with 28k on it and have since put another 78k on it and only now am I getting around to putting a bearing on it.

 

My test for the sticky brakes is to find an empty road, put the car in Neutral and let it roll and see if I sense a pull. You can tap the brakes on & off while doing this.
Roll the windows down and listen for the bearing noise while you are at it.

 

I did this today and am starting to think it's the bearing actually, unfortunately. I have to say that until this vehicle, i haven't had to replace a wheel bearing in any of my vehicles, but then again, it's possible that there were some that were going out on previous vehicles and I just didn't realize it too. In some respects, I'm glad I noticed this though as I can now address it.

I don't hear any bearing noise doing a roll test at low speed, but I can hear what appears to be a faint whir after about 30 mph upwards. I also did a bit of a crude test too as I drove about 5 miles, stopped and then checked the rim and caliper on both sides (front). Rim was hot as it was previously after I'd drive, Caiipers on both sides didn't seem to be excessively hot or anything. I don't know if this means much, but I would think a dragging brake of some sort or a stuck caliper would heat up but I didn't notice this. I did wait about 1 minute before checking the rim and caliper though after stopping after the 5 mile drive. But even so, I would think the caliper would be rather hot.

Also hearing the faint noise while driving makes me think this actually has been going on for a while now that I think of it. I can't always hear it (depends on the road and it's still rather faint and not typical to what people would post on Youtube videos for examples) but it may have been going on for a few months now as I probably also have thought it was tire noise, seeing that my tires also have about 57k miles on them and are needing to be replaced soon. But i still think this is the bearing and it's perhaps in the earlier stages of failure (hasn't gotten to grinding or clicking sound).

 

I cant help but curious how many miles the car has?

 

Today when checking air pressure after having driven about 200 miles (highway) I noticed that the driver's side rim is significantly hotter (to the touch) than the others (The rear ones were pretty much cool, only slightly warm, and the passenger side front rim was warmer than the rears, but nowhere near as hot as the driver's side. What could possibly cause this? I have not noticed this before until now.

A few observations:

I do not believe the bearing is bad (at least I don't feel/hear anything from that side (although this doesn't necessarily mean a good bear as it could start to go bad but just not to a point where it's noticeable especially while driving maybe...?)

The brakes do not appear to be locked up in anyway or dragging for that matter (no error codes) and the car will still roll when put on a slight incline and put into neutral. The shop also did an inspection about 3 weeks ago as part of an oil change and only noted that the brakes were at about 50% worn, and that everything else looked fine so I would guess they are fine (rotors looked normal, not

Could a bad alignment (like a toe issue) cause this since the wheel may not be rolling completely straight? The car has never had an alignment since buying it new 5 years ago and it still has the original tires (it doesn't pull or anything, so IMO there was no need to done an alignment yet).

Thoughts?

Why are you wondering about more heat in front driver's side wheel if you're already booked to have its bearing hub replaced?

UPDATE: I did check the warranty and according to Toyota's documentation, front hubs are covered under the power-train warranty supposedly (car only has 56k miles on it and at about 57 months so still within powertrian warranty, so I will be calling the dealer). Hopefully they actually cover it. While it sounds like the toyota hubs are maybe not the best, if they cover it, it will at least get it fixed for the time being, and then if it comes up again, I'll use an aftermarket hub. So far though this is the original hub on this side (driver's side front) but the other hub (passenger side) has been replaced under warranty as well (but that was within the 3/36 warranty). So finger's crossed they'll cover it. If it ends up not being the hub/bearing, and it's the caliper that I can probably deal with, but called one shop and they wanted $900 to replace a hub (they said 2.5 hours and a $500 hub which is probably the OEM one, but they won't let me bring them parts to use). And I think the dealer (based on the last one, even though it was under warranty) was about that much too.

2020 Camry front wheel bearing replacement (hub) OEM or aftermarket | Toyota Nation Forum

 

So I took it to two shops and got the same diagnosis -- not the wheel bearing and not the brakes. They think it's actually the alignment after a check (which would impact the bearing a bit if the toe is off I think). But one was the dealer and the other was a local shop. both showed me the brakes an the bearing (demonstrated that there was no play or noise in the bearing) and brakes do not show signs of excessive wear/heat and are actually still at 60% apparently (with 57k on them). Next step is to replace the tires and get an alignment (which I need anyway as it's now about 5 years later so I'm still on the original OEM times at this point but will replace them in the coming weeks and see. If the problem persists, then I don't know.
Both shops did say that it's normal for the wheels to get a bit hot particularly during driving and showed that actually both front wheel rims where about the same temp after driving around for about 10-15 minutes with each tech. But they both said not the bearing/hub and not the brakes (ie. both are fine). Again, the alignment thing (especially if it's a toe issue) does make sense as the wheel then is not rolling straight but at a slight angle which would put more stress on the bearing I guess. Plus today it's a bit cooler and they didn't seem to be as hot as when I checked them on a hotter day when it was close to 90 degrees and full sun). I expect that ambient and sun exposure would play some what of a role in this.

 

I’m interested to see how your story pans out.

Mine has made noise through 2 whole sets of tires and I just had an alignment done with a new set of tires the other month and it still makes the same noise.

I have checked the hubs myself for play and there is none on mine either, but I’m still not convinced that it’s NOT the bearing. At this point I know I’m throwing parts at it but I don’t care lol. SOMEthing is making noise and I’m gonna figure out what it is

 

Excess front toe-in or toe-out would simply result in BOTH front tires wearing faster and running hotter, without causing a pull to the right or the left... A pull to the right or left would rather be primarily caused a a REAR wheel misalignment.

Just make sure both your front left and right tires have the same COLD inflation pressure... Furthermore, your brake caliper sliding pins DO require cleaning and re-lubing to prevent dragging brake pads.

 

Update as well - rechecked the hub again on my car and there is no sign of bearing issue, so I'm starting to think it's actually an alignment issue (toe issue perhaps which may be causing the wheel to put pressure on the bearing). Anyway, getting new tires and alignment done next week so that should solve the issue hopefully as the bearing isn't bad from what we can tell (the shop let me test it myself, no noise no wobble/movement), brakes are fine. So I guess I'll wait and see what new tires and alignment do (need them anyway, and was giong to do them before winter as the OEM tires are basically done at 57k).

On a side note it's been cooler around here, and the rims don't seem to get anywhere near as hot as they did when I first found this (when it was 90+ degrees out), so part of it may also be ambient temperature is playing a roll here too. I have a "short" 1 hour trip to do tomorrow on the toll-way and will check the wheels again after the trip to see what they are like. I also did notice that the front right wheel (passenger side) also gets warm, but again, we didn't find any bearing issue there either, so part of me does maybe think that the rims getting warm (not scalding hot necessarily) may be somewhat normal and maybe just something I didn't notice or think too much about.

 

"FINAL" update: So got new tires put on, alignment done. The shop that did the tires also check the bearings (and other stuff) as their procedure for alignments, and said the bearings are actually fine, but that it turns out from what they can see/tell, the brakes are dragging a bit (which some people have mentioned here) so I will likely need to lube the caliper (slides) but just glad it's not a bearing issue as that's an expensive job to do if I have to pay someone to do it. I can do the brake work myself actually. So glad it's brakes in a way, and not a bearing. They said the drag is not very much, but enough that the rim gets hot, but it's not like it's locked up and it's not anywhere near a point where it will cause immediate damage to the rotor or pads, but regardless, will fix it this weekend (they think the pads are basically just sitting against the rotor, but no pressure is being applied basically).

 

UPDATE: I've kind of given up on trying to track down the source of the hot rim. I now have had new tires put on, alignment, brakes were checked and lubed, and wheel bearing has been ruled out based on tests by 3 shops now (no noise, no movement, nothing). I guess in the end, the rim's aren't excruciatingly hot they're just very warm (if i had to put a number on it, probably cooler than a car hood on a hot day, so not so bad you would burn yourself, but just noticeably warm. I have noticed that on cooler days it's not as bad so I've sort of given up on this now that I've at least ruled out items that could potentially lead to expensive repairs or safety concerns, so I guess I'll just leave it alone. I'm due for new brakes in another year or two anyway so maybe that will solve it but for now, I'm just ignoring the issue (which it may not even be one) and will deal with it if it becomes a bigger problem.

One last possibility but I'm not going to worry too much about it, is that the pads may be resting against the rotor, so the slides may be working properly (as they were lubed, along with the pads and anything else that can be lubed on the brakes without fully disassembly) but not enough to cause an issue or any error codes, so they may just be lightly touching the rotor just enough to create heat but not cause issues that are noticeable (car can still move freely on a flat surface and rolls fine so the brakes are not binding or stuck).