So the PO said he thought the front bearing was going/gone. I have driven the beast around I don't know maybe 50 miles or so. I haven't heard any grinding/squeaking or anything that sounds out of the ordinary from any of the wheels but I did find what looked like some grease on the inside of one of my front tires...

Question(s):

Could the bearing be going bad/gone out with out some sort of squeaking/grinding noise?
I understand that the front is not just the bearing its the entire hub/bearing assembly, this might be a dumb question but would I be able to just remove the wheel and caliper and remove the assembly to check if it's intact, or would removing it end up causing damage and would need to be replaced anyway?

Thanks for the help!

Jake

 

Is there any fluid/oil/grease anywhere else or just on the tire?

 

That was a crazy fast reply! When I first looked at it there was a small chunk of a greenish/white grease, maybe the size of a popcorn kernel or two. Just took a pic now of the actual metal. Top pic is my passenger side, bottom pic is my driver side (the side that presumably has the bad bearing).






There doesn't appear to be any other oily/grease areas around the driver side (like splashing or drippage) it seems to be isolated to just that wheel hub/axle.

 

It appears to possibly be originating around the lower ball joint based on the lower part of the c. Jack the front up and try to wiggle the wheel up and down. If there is play it could either be ball joint or the wheel bearing. If you have the tools, it doesn't take long to take it apart. Generally if your wheel bearing takes a dump it makes a fierce grinding noise. If it smells like diff fluid your seal on that side is probably done for. Check the dif fluid and make sure its full.

 

Thanks for the info! I'll have to wait to do this once I get back from vacation, will post results in a week.