whvance

I'm sure there are threads about wheel bearings going bad but I just wanted to pin-point noises and sounds to see if this is the problem.

Ever since I bought my XJ, it had a howling noise in the front. The sound resembles the roar my Mud Grapplers made when I had them on my truck but I am positive the problem is something other than tire noise. I hear it in the drivers side but a passenger has told me he hears it in the right. Anyways, after I put my 4.5 lift on it, the front tires have been wearing very fast and irregularly on both sides.

I am pretty sure it is the wheel bearing so I'm thinking about just buying the parts and doing it myself. Is there a way to check and make sure that is the problem before I take everything apart?

And is there anywhere specific I should buy the parts?

And most importantly, is it an easy fix to do myself?

I apologize if this is jumbled. I took tylenol PM and havent laid my head down yet.

notop46

I'm having a similar problem. It sounds like a tire going bad. It has a whum whum whum sound like a pulsing mud tire sound that gets louder the faster I go. It gets worse when I turn to the right and lessens when I turn to the left.

I put new tires on the back and it stayed the same. Tried swapping the fronts right to left, but it is the same. I rocked and pulled on the wheels when it was jacked up, but there is no looseness or click in the bearings or ball joints. The U-joints appear to be OK.

Any suggestions for this one?

To whvance: Is your problem the same on both sides? Any difference in sound when turning at speed? Jack it up and check for play in the wheels for starters

Texerokee

The "whum whum whum" sound could be a wheel bearing, without the bearings being loose. The race or a bearing usually gets pitted causing the noise you mentioned before.

On another note, if it were a pinion bearing, it could also do the same thing

no rdplz

Easiest way to check for a worn hub (xj's use a full assembly replacement rather tgen just the bearing) is to jack up the front end, lock the steering, then see if either wheel has any lateral play (move it back and forth as if you're trying to make the steering wheel turn). However, this doesn't always give you the answer. I've had a hub screaming while driving and it had zero play it when doing this test. The constant "whum, whum, whum" is a classic worn hub indicator. It can be hard to determine if it's the hub or tires, but a great way to check is by turning. If it gets worse while driving through a slow turn, it's most likely the hub. A worn hub can lead to abnormal tire wear as well. Here's the issue though - almost everything you're both describing can also be caused by something else - a bad axle u-joint. The one difference is that a bad u-joint will give off a very fast "click, click, click".
Hubs are actually pretty easy to do. Here's a how to...
Loosen your lug nuts.
Jack the vehicle up and put it on stands
Remove the front tires
Take out the axle shaft cotter pin (buy new ones if these are really rusty) and the lock cap (don't lose this)
**at this point an extra person is wonderful as they can hold the brakes down while you loosen the axle nut**
Use a 36mm socket to remove the axle nut
Remove the brake caliper (2 12mm bolts)
Remove the rotor
Take out the 3 hub bolts with a 12-point 13mm socket
Remove the hub (a soft blow hammer may be needed to hit around the hub to break it loose)
Remove the brake shield

To put it all together just do that list in reverse. If you don't have an extra person to hold the brakes while you loosen the axle nut, use a pry bar between the wheel studs to hold it in place while you loosen it. Biggest thing while putting it back together is to make sure the axle nut gets torqued to 175 ft/lbs.

no rdplz

Could be, but a pinion bearing tends to have more of a grind to it. I would know, i just hadto replace mine. Easiest way to check for that is to just grab the front pinion and try shaking it around. Another test is to jack it up (all 4 corners) and have someone slowly build up the throttle while you watch the pinion to see if there's any movement. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL IF YOU DO THIS!

whvance

Holy sweet Jesus!!!

I changed out both of the front wheel bearings and it fixed the problem. I've had the noise from the time I bought it and today was the first time to drive it without the noise. Made a huge difference.

I said screw it and bought new hub assemblies for both the driver and passenger side (140 bucks) and got them put on and tires rotated for 95 dollars at a local mechanic.

Chrysler was going to charge me around 600 to do it. Bums.

no rdplz

Good to hear!