Just recently I've begun to notice a pretty harsh grinding when braking hard and turning sharp right apparently coming from the Left Front. I put new pads and rotors on less than 10K miles ago and nothing looks unnatural there. 280K on the hub.

I suspected the bearing/hub and there seemed to be noticeable play when rocking the wheel. Upon removing the hub and turning it with my hand, I can't feel any noticeable roughness or catching. The backing plate has some wear marks and some newly abraded metal but I may have done that with the wedge while removing the hub

Have I got the wrong side off OR can I just NOT get enough force on the bearings with my hands alone to feel the issue?

 

if it's still out of the jeep, grab it in your hands and try to rock it back and forth (side load) on the bearing. if there is any play, it's bad. it's also possible the while unloaded, you may not feel the roughness in the bearings.

if it's back on the jeep, jack that wheel off the ground and grab the tire at 9 and 3. rock it with a side load against the bearing to feel for any play.

either way, there should be no play whatsoever.

 

If you jack it up, and the wheel moves back and forth when you rock it, it's more'n likely the bearings in the hub.

edit: ^ beat me to it haha

 

do you have a mechanics stethoscope? i have seen many bearings where they feel fine but make a lot of noise when listened to with a stethoscope. you can also use a screwdriver and place it against your ear.

zedpapa

 

Well ... after letting it set for a while, I went back and checked the hub more carefully and then I could notice only the slightest amount binding as it turned ... and that was only in a particular place. Soooo ... I'm pretty confident that the hub is the issue and I bought one ... will put it on tomorrow.

Is this backing plate usable?

 

I replaced the wheel bearing on my grand prix,(belle tire did the free inspection and they told me it was bad) There was no play in the wheel, and looked fine when I had it off. The new one took care of the problem though. I had a bad vibration all the time.

 

Your backing plate is fine. Just make sure the mounting surface doesn't have any metal that's doubled over.

 

i toss my backing plates away. they only hold stones and mud.

 

Thank you all very much ... If I were a constant off-roader, I'd toss um but I think I'll put this one back on there just for symmetry.