aj_berg

Hi all,

I'm a new member to the forum, but have looked up answers many times. I have a 2001 XJ with just over 200K. Over the last couple of months, I have heard an increasingly loud noise coming from the front (left?) tire. What originally sounded like road noise turned into more of a whirring noise that came with each tire rotation. Now, I can begin to feel a very slight matching shake in the steering wheel. I have shaken the wheels to check bearings, with no excess play, and I grease ball joints with every oil change. Jeep drives great - straight and no wobble, can take hands off wheel and goes down road fine. Any ideas or places to check first? Thanks in advance.

OldTires

Does the sound increase or decrease with speed? If it does vary with speed then look at ujoints or wheel hub bearings.

aj_berg

OldTires, the sound does increase with speed as it sounds like it is directly related to the tire's rotational noise. It has continued after a tire rotation as well. I have checked the hub bearings the only way I know how (shaking the wheel)..any recommendations on checking ujoints?

PatHenry

It is possible to have a bad wheel bearing and not be able to move the wheel by hand.

You can visually see the u-joints if you poke your head under there with a good light. See if you can twist the axle at all by hand.. if you can you need a new u-joint. Again, they can seem fine by hand but still be bad, so the twisting test only reveals -really- bad joints.

aj_berg

Thanks for the tip! I will have another look after work this evening.

OldTires

What exactly do you mean by this?

Here is a good video on ujoints courtesy of Bleepin


As for checking the wheel hub, jack up the front, support it with jack stands, then take off the tire and manually turn the wheel hub. See how it feels. If the bearings are grinding, chances are you will feel it and maybe hear it.

PatHenry

I was thinking about this and wanted to add, you should jack up the front end, then double check there's no movement. After that, spin the tire by hand and see if it's "unsmooth" rotating. Obviously if it makes noise, you'll be certain it's at that wheel. Then do the same to the other side and see if it's smoother so you can compare.

I say this just to be sure you've isolated the noise to the suspect wheel. Sometimes sounds are tricky, so you want to be sure. It should be said that you should verify that there's nothing rubbing against the wheel (like a body panel or dust cover that's come loose.)

At that point, (if you have another vehicle or ride) it may be best to take the hub on that side out. If the sound is varying in line with how fast the tire is spinning, and you're certain of the side the only real suspects are the hub and axle u-joint. You have to take the hub off if it's either one anyway and the hub and u-joints are much easier to inspect once they're out and you can manipulate them by hand.

From the desciption, I suspect it's a bad hub bearing since you're describing the classic symptoms.

PatHenry

OldTires - I took that to mean he did a tire rotation and nothing changed.

RocketMouse

^^ that was a perfect demonstration to share for explaining U-joints.

OldTires

Pat, that's what I was thinking too, but not sure. I was also going to say to check other things other than the Ujoint and wheel bearings but you beat me to it.

OP, when my ujoints went bad, they would really become loud when turning. Also make sure nothing in the brake caliper is getting stuck and causing the vibration you describe.

OldTires

BleepinJeep has a video for just about everything. The guy is a godsend for XJ owners like me that are trying to DIY it.

PatHenry

Ahhhhhh, good call on the sticking caliper possibility. I hadn't thought of that, but with the gouging of the sliders that's common on these that's a definite possibility.

Turbo X_J

What happens if you rotate the hub by hand at full lock with the front of the vehicle off the ground?

RocketMouse

That's about the damn truth. I've taken on several projects on my own after reviewing... I've wrenched on my own vehicles for more years than I care to admit to. lol.... but this is still my first Jeep... so for me, it's more of getting used to the "lay of the land" so to speak than anything else.
Also with these older Jeeps... once you see how things are, they are pretty easy to work on for the most part. I completely did a new front-end like a week after I got her home.

JeepJimnMN

Just the info I needed. Have same situation except right front wheel. Bought couple months ago. My first jeep all original with 187,000 on it. Noticed when I bought it the tires were not rotated and front right was low. Filled tires up and rotated same problem on right front. Brakes are firm with no pull. My experience with vehicles are maintenance and bolt on. My guess was bearings but did not want to take shot gun approach. Thanks so much! Btw - search does work