Mister Willie

This noise i hear.. coming from the left front wheel, it sounds like something rubbing the tire tread but nothing is touching it. A small bump inthe road can make this noise begin, or it can make it stop.

if you've ever seen a conveyor belt with the metal rollers and you spin one with your hand or foot and it kind of spins/rattles.. thats what this kind of sounds like.

CJM

I had the same thing happen on my camry, noise was intermittent and sounded like a low rattle or screech. Wheel bearing was no good, cost a bit too.

slosurfer

It could be your spindle bushing? Grab your cv axle and give it a good tug inward and see if it gets much movement. They can wear out. I have seen some info on here about replacing them with some needle bearings. I will have to search though.

here this has some info on it:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...pindle+bushing

rezrunner92

Hard to diagnose a noise without hearing it but your wheel bearing could be the problem. Jack the front up with both tires up. Before doing this make sure to chock the rear wheels. After getting the front tires off the ground an inch or so make sure to set jack stands to support the vehicle. Grab the tire with a hand on top and bottom of the tire. Push in with the top hand and pull out on the bottom and vice versa. Try to rock it back and forth it should not move much at all. Now put the hands at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock and do the same thing. Now check the other side the same way. Compare the two. Even if both are worn it will usually be more noticeable on one side or the other. If the wheel bearing is bad I would suggest replacing both. I would if I could afford to. This is also a must fix NOW issue. Not a mod that can be put off. I have seen vehicles that ran wheels off because of failed wheel bearings. Those were rear wheels on front wheel drive cars though. I have never seen a Yota do that but any problem can go from unseen to extreme quickly.
You could do the job yourself in the driveway, it's not that difficult but time consuming and a little messy.
Good luck with your problem.

jsnby

wheel bearing are usually pretty cheap. While you have the whole thing apart, make sure to check your rotors and brake pads. It might be a good time to replace since you'll have most of it apart anyways.

I agree with rezrunner92.....wheel bearings are a must fix now type of issue.

HAVOC

I just installed new rotors, calipers, and pads. While I had it apart I installed new inner/outer bearings and seals. New bearings and seals (Timken) cost me 85.00 from Autozone.
If you do replace the bearings, make sure to use grease for "disc brake wheel bearings" only.

91 4Runner

Just did mine a couple of weeks ago.... Sounds like the outer bearing to me...

Mister Willie

I jacked my 4runner up today and the left tire had some play when i put my hands on top and bottom and tried to move it. I got into the hub and tightened the adjusting nut. It was pretty loose when i took it off ot have a look at the bearing. The bearing looked OK. Anyways put it all back together and that movement in the tire has quit. I hope this solves the problem.

dstrick32

These front bearings need to be torqued and you will need either a 54MM or 2 1/8" socket to do so. Check out this link:

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/wheel_bearing.html

Mister Willie

I hope I don't sound stupid but...

Why are people saying you have to take the rotor off to get to the outer bearing? I got to it no problemo without the rotor or caliper coming off. I'm sure I have to take it all apart to get to the inner bearing.

Also, spare me the stupid comments please, but what do people mean by 'repacking' bearings. slathering it with more grease? thanks for the help

rezrunner92

First question, I dunno. I'd have to see the manual, never done it.

Second question, more that slathering but also trying to actually pack the grease into the bearing. they make neat little tools for this, but people have been doing it by hand for 100 years.

FredTJ

If you take a new bearing, or a just cleaned one, and just "slather" it with grease and re-install it, you'll find out shortly what a bad bearing/race sounds like

The bearing(s) need to have the grease, literally, packed inside of them.
That's basically what the bearing rides on, a layer of grease.




Fred

SpeedyManiac

I just did the front wheel bearings in my 4Runner. It's not a difficult job, and if you're speedy with the tools it'll only take a couple hours per side. The driver side outer bearing on my truck completely munched the roller cage (cage came out in two pieces, rollers were everywhere). Yeah, you can get the outer BEARING without removing the rotor assembly, but you can't get the outer RACE out. If you're replacing the bearing, replace the race too. And while you're at it, do the inner bearing too.

Here's what it cost me at Napa for SKF bearings:
Outer bearing and race set: $28.69
Inner bearing: $23.69
Inner race: $11.69
Oil seal: $28.99 (this is the only rediculous part I thought)
Tub of wheel bearing grease: $15

The driver side took me about 8 hours as I had never done a wheel bearing before, and the outer bearing siezed on the spindle. Took over 3 hours to get the outer bearing off the spindle.

I did the passenger side a week later and it took me 4 hours including disassembling the entire hub to regrease it and clean/replace both bearings.

slosurfer

you can google "how to pack bearings" and will find info on exactly how to do it.

Mister Willie

I bought new wheel bearings and grease, and races, and an oilseal too, for the left side. The entire job took about 5 hours. It would have taken less had I known better the entire process. Doing the other side I feel would be pretty easy.

Anyways... my 4runner is still making the damned noise! not as much, and it seemed to cease by the time I got home.

Could it be my spindle bushing? if so, do I have to replace it, or just grease it?

highway

Mister willie, when you replaced the bearings, did any of the races look like they were spinning on the hub ? I had the passenger side do that on mine.

highway

Mister Willie

Someone had suggested the spindle bushings need grease. When we replaced the CV shaft we didn't put grease on it, looking back now, it sounds kind of stupid not to have done that, but, could that be a possible problem making the noise? if so, should I pull the CV shaft out far enough to put some grease on it and put it back in?

chris_f

Did you figure out what the noise was after replacing/repacking the bearings? I have the same problem happening? I replaced the bearing and races and I didn't get any noise for about 5 blocks and then it started up again when I turned left?? I've been following another thread within yotatech (rotor/hub removal) but your comments caught my attention.

Tim_Snapple76

It is very possible that your hubs are trying to lock in. Common on automatic hubs. I'd check that for sure. It sounds pretty loud and will make you think your tire is actually rubbing. Tim

chris_f

I actually haven't put the manual hubs on yet (I've added a picture at the bottom). I just finished rebuilding them but wanted to make sure that the bearing change would go with out a hitch. One less variable to worry about and I was right ! They'll go on when I get this issue fixed...
I did jack up the front end and there seems to be no play 9-3 and 12-6? The right side (noise) seems not as loose as the left (good side). I just moved the calipers out of the way when I did the bearings so nothing really changed. Could it be the brakes? It does seem like a rotational noise???

Thanks for all the feedback !