Possible Bad Wheel Bearing???

[Jarrett Bradford]

Hey Guys. I got a 1994 Ford Ranger, 2wd. 2” leveling spacers in front.
I’ve had this groaning noise coming from the front end for months now (sounds like I got mud tires). When I turn the wheel right, it groans. When I turn it left or center it stops. But sometimes it switches up on me and will groan when turning to the left and stop when turned right or center. Sometimes it even groans going straight. I’ve got new pads and new rotors. And the inner and outer bearings, upper and lower ball joints, and outer tie rods are less than a year old. I also posted a video on YouTube showing off my problem. Anything helps. Thanks!

 

[Jim Oaks]

You have new inner and outer bearings, and it's still groaning?

 

[Jarrett Bradford]

You have new inner and outer bearings, and it's still groaning?

Yup. They’re almost a year old. I wonder if it’s because they’re the cheap Chinese ones. All AutoZone had. So I didn’t intentionally get the cheapies. It’s just all I could get my hands on. I found some on eBay made in Japan for $55. But want to be sure it’s the bearings before throwing money at the truck.

 

[07nhbpsi]

Yup. They’re almost a year old. I wonder if it’s because they’re the cheap Chinese ones. All AutoZone had. So I didn’t intentionally get the cheapies. It’s just all I could get my hands on. I found some on eBay made in Japan for $55. But want to be sure it’s the bearings before throwing money at the truck.

Well, u answered your own question twice: once u went to Autozone & the second was the cheap Chinese garbage...... would’ve been better off not doing the job and waiting for the good stuff to arrive...

 

[8thTon]

It's not a big deal to do front wheel bearings on the 2WD Ranger. I used the cheapest set they had at AZ when I did mine because I knew I would want to put new rotors on it soon and needed to get the job done fast - it cost less than $20 for bearings and a seal. When I get new rotors with races I'll put good bearings on both sides too.

In fact the last bearings went because the seal failed. You could see the rust in the grease and the marks where the rollers rusted to the races. It probably sat for a bit before I bought it, and then it didn't last long after I started driving it. I'm kinda curious how long the cheap bearings last with a good seal, properly cleaned up, greased and torqued.

 

[Jarrett Bradford]

Well, u answered your own question twice: once u went to Autozone & the second was the cheap Chinese garbage...... would’ve been better off not doing the job and waiting for the good stuff to arrive...

But is that normal for a bad wheel bearing to make groaning sounds either way you turn the wheel? Like I said. Sometimes it groans to the left. Sometimes it groans to the right and sometimes groans center. Right now as I speak it is groaning while going straight. Start hearing it at about 25mph and gets worse from there. I have no problem replacing the bearings. I can do it in under and hour. I just want to be sure before spending more money.

 

[19Walt93]

If you slowly fade from one side to the other while driving and the noise fades or gets louder as the load on the wheel shifts, it's most likely a wheel bearing. A wheel bearing will usually get louder as it drives further and gets hotter.

 

[Jarrett Bradford]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the responses. I’m gonna throw some money at it and buy those Japanese made Koyo bearings. Hope it fixes it. : ))

 

[8thTon]

I can't tell you how many jobs I've had to re-do over the past several years due to junk parts. It happens if I buy the obvious cheap crap or name brand parts at a higher price - it's to the point where I've gone back to the cheap stuff for some parts because it's all junk. Bearings are an exception I guess - if you get Timkin or SKF you can expect them to be good.

In general though, as a troubleshooting method you can't assume that because you replaced a part recently that you can eliminate it from suspicion, as it may have failed already.

 

[Craig0320]

Quick question? Did you pack the bearings with a good quality grease? I use the cheapest bearings in different situations at work and found a excellent quality grease made by toro. We deal with lots of water and sand and have gotten three times as long out of our bearing life. Whenever we buy sealed bearings we pop the seal off and pack them with the toro grease then reinstall.

 

[91stranger]

Wheel bearing for sure. Nothing else would make a noise like that while turning the wheel off the centerline. Have you jacked it up and shook stuff yet?

 

[Jarrett Bradford]

Thanks for all the replies. And the grease I was using was just MasterPro bearing grease. Which I think is just the Orielly house brand grease lol. I’ll take yalls word and replace the bearings with some higher quality bearings and better grease. Before doing that tho I’ll lift it up and shake everything like 91Stranger mentioned just to make sure I’m not missing something. It’s an expensive mistake replacing pads and calipers over and over trying to fix the issue and now bearings. But thats how you learn. Thanks guys!!

 

[txgocartB3000#2]

The grease I try to use is Synthetic Marine Grease.

High Temp water resistant application made by known manufacturers.

No preference but moderately priced.

Ray

 

[swynx]

i generally only use timken/skf, i think national is the same bearing but just from napa, but i cant remember. i used a masterpro bearing for 1 winter wheeling season. made like 10? trips. the bearing siezed on, and i use lucas grease, in a syringe, so i can squirt it in between every roller. yet the other side was still a 3 year old timken that i occasionally slapped some grease on, it was still going good! when you have it apart, you should also replace the spindle bearings. for what its worth, i was able to order timken bearings and seals for the whole front, off rockauto for the same price as what oriellys or autozone, had the cheap crap for.