Left front wheel whirring noise

skenan · 10-22-2009, 07:35 PM

My left front wheel is make a whirring noise that begins around 20 mph and speeds up with my car. Row.....Row....Row...Row..Row.RowRowRowrow -- like that as I speed up.

Took a look at the wheel while up on a jack and its got a lot of "give" to it. Like when I pull on it left and right, up and down, it wiggles a pretty good amount. Is this a tie rod end issue? Can I just tighten it down or does it need replacement? Is this the cause of the noise? I also just replaced the brakes and I'm not sure if the noise was there before I did it (wife's car).

Thanks for the help.

91xltlariat · 10-22-2009, 07:58 PM

Sounds like you have a wheel bearing needing replaced.

skenan · 10-26-2009, 12:21 PM

Took it to a shop and they confirmed it is the wheel bearing. Quoted me 400 bucks! Doesn't sound like something I can do myself either.

skenan · 10-29-2009, 08:31 AM

ended up removing the wheel hub assembly and taking it and a new bearing to a local shop. Part was $33 and labor was $45. Threw it back on the car and it works great now.

91xltlariat · 10-29-2009, 08:37 AM

Glad you got it fixed.

VolsFan_ZX2 · 12-11-2009, 07:22 PM

of you have a lot of give to the left and the right i would say your tie rod ends need to be replaced. I just did the ones on mine because of extra play in the tire. If they wear completely out the tie rod end will pop off and your tire will jack knife one way or the other and that will be the beginning of a bad day. especially if you are on the highway.

skenan · 12-19-2009, 08:38 AM

Yep, I didnt mention it before but I did end up replacing both tie rod ends also. My steering wheel had a really big "dead" zone in the middle. Pretty easy job to do. So two tie rod ends, a new bearing, and an alignment later, the problems all fixed.