I am starting to hear noises like my front wheel bearings are going out. With only 68K miles I would thing that is way too soon. What is the best test to determine if that is the case?

 

Jack up the front, grab the tire at 12:00 and 6:00. Pull hard in both directions and see if you feel any movement. Usually, if the bearings are bad enough that you hear noise, you can feel movement in the wheel.

 

Good and bad news for you. Good - The sealed wheel bearings are good for many more miles than yours.

Hope for your sake it’s something else like upper shock mounts .... as otherwise

Bad news to change the wheel bearings out, it’s not like other cars. For us, you will need a seriously BIG press to get them out/in

 

Mine wore out about same milage as yours. A $150 harbor freight press will do the job. If I could do it so can you I'm sure.

We've got plenty of instructions here if you decide to go it on your own. Some would point out that the local auto parts store with a press can do the job cheaply too. Just bring them the wheel hub and carrier. Think it was around $40 around here.

It'll be an all day job for both sides. Hope this helps you weigh your options.

John

 

Mine growled during lane / direction changes. They are "sealed bearings" but there isn't even a discourager to keep water out. Driving through a wash in a Texas rain storm will doom them.

When Jeremy Clarkson drove an XKR through the surf on Top Gear, my only thought was "well, those bearings are toast".

With a press, getting the Nut off is the only tough part (if the car was ever driven on salty roads, cut the old ones off/buy new). To get the nut back on, buy a 2" 12 point socket. I have the official Jag socket and its not worth the trouble.

 

Thanks everyone fro responding. I believe it was a false alarm. I think it is road noise from the tires. There is no noise when making a sharp turn and it varies depending on how smooth the road is. Some of our roads have a rough texture. When I hit a really smooth spot it goes away. At least I hope it is road/tire noise.

Thanks again guys.

 

That is great news. When the bearings are going out, you'll know it. It is a more metallic growl than tires and the growl even gets louder with non aggressive steering wheel movements, that don't put a a bunch of extra load on the tires.