Wheel hub assemblies are made of steel and are built to last. They, like other car components, can break or wear out from time to time. It’s understandable to be perplexed when this happens. The most common reasons for bearing failure include impacts, contamination, and misalignment.
Table of Contents
Impacts
When your tire encounters a pothole, curb, or another large obstruction strongly enough, the wheel bearing is likely to be damaged. The bearing either fractures or degrades over time, resulting in failure. Is your automobile driving differently after you’ve hit a pothole or something else? Your wheel hub assembly may have received considerable damage and require repair.
Contamination
Wheel hubs, like the other components beneath the vehicle, are constantly exposed to water, filth, dust, and other pollutants. They will decay over time due to corrosion. In cold regions, cars are vulnerable to salt and magnesium chloride exposure.
If you drive in the rain, some liquid may get on the equipment in the boot. However, due to their lack of protection against the elements, wheel hubs are frequently bathed in water. Wheel hubs are highly vulnerable to weather conditions; as a result, rust can develop sooner than it would for other components beneath the car.
Improper Alignment
The wheel hub’s duty is to connect the axle and wheel and to allow the wheel to rotate freely. Most of the time, a car is driven in a straight line, putting only a little strain on the wheel bearing. If your automobile’s alignment is out of whack and it’s dragging, you must continuously turn slightly to ensure that it travels straight. Then, because of the increased stress from a small turn all the time, the bearing deteriorates more quickly.
Wheel Hub Assembly Failure Symptoms
Whether you’re testing your own automobile or a customer’s, you’ll want to be able to identify the most typical symptoms of a failing wheel hub assembly or a damaged wheel bearing:
- A loud rumbling or rattling noise may indicate a problem.
- There’s a clacking sound when the car accelerates.
- A steering wheel that vibrates or has been loosened
- Abnormal Side Pull During Brake Applying
- Wear on the rotor and brake pads is uneven.
How to Diagnose a Failing Wheel Hub Assembly
If you detect any of these indications during your test drive, it’s worth inspecting each wheel hub assembly on the automobile physically. To do so:
- Remove the box.
- With your hands on the wheel, grab it at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock points (top and bottom).
- To discover if there is any play in the wheel, gently rock it from side to side. (Note: This test may not be able to detect a bearing failure in the early phases of wear.)
- Remove the tire and wheel. Remove one slide pin and reposition the calliper so that the pads aren’t dragging on the rotor. (You may need to remove the calliper.) Spin the hub by hand, paying attention to any unusual resistance or vibration. Examine other hubs on your vehicle for comparison.
- Repeat the procedure for each of the other car’s wheel hub assemblies.
You may hear the failure before you can feel it in the early stages of a wheel bearing failure, as described above. Another method to tell if the hub bearing is failing is to check for runout. Runout is a term used to describe how much play there is in the wheel bearing. To measure runout precisely, you’ll need a dial gauge. If the runout of the hub exceeds .004 inches,
Don’t forget to examine the rest of the vehicle’s components! Worn ball joints and tie rod ends might cause problems similar to those caused by a damaged wheel bearing.
When replacing a wheel bearing or a wheel hub assembly, be cautious not to:
- Grease the bearing and carefully pack it.
- Use the manufacturer’s recommended torque settings.
- When packing a new wheel bearing, use grease that is rated for bearings or manufactured specifically for the application.
- Replace the seals.
CVHubs offers top-of-the-line wheel bearing and hub kits that satisfy all of the criteria listed above. CVHub wheel hub assemblies are a no-brainer. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding our world-class wheel bearing and hub systems.