diagnosing front wheel noise

[c5dura]

I'm pretty sure one of my front wheel bearings/hub assemblies are shot. Driving down the road at 65 mph, it sounds just like a cupped tire howl. But when I turn/bank to the left, the noise and vibration goes away completely. It appears to be coming from the front left.

I rotated the tires and the noise stayed in the front left corner.

I put the truck on a lift and was surpised that I wasn't able to find any play in either front hub assembly.

Would the brake pads be preventing me from determining if I have any play in my front bearings?

This has been going on for 3 months now and the noise/vibration keep getting worse.

I got right around 50k on it and the truck has seen some deep water crossings from time to time, which I understand can greatly reduce the life of these "sealed" assemblies. I don't want to go out and spent several hundred dollars on a new assembly unless I can determine for sure that is what the problem is.

How far do I need to tear things down to determine what the problem is? Could it be something other than the bearings causing this howling noise that goes away when turning left?

[BradL]

When my right front wheel bearings went out, I was getting a loud squeal when turning to one side. When I lifted the wheel off the ground, I could tilt the wheel in and out of the wheel well.
I could also see some lubrication leak from the wheel bearing assembly with the wheel removed and looking on the axle shaft as it extended thru the wheel bearing assembly.

Removal is two bolts for the caliper, 1 nut for the bearing assembly on the axle shaft, a 36 mm if I recall correctly. The caliper bolts are torqued to 250 ft lbs at the factory and installed with thread locker, so they can be a pain to remove.

[DmaxMaverick]

I'll also add that if you replace the bearing yourself, be sure to also get new axle nuts. Do not reuse the old nuts, as they are intended for one use only. If you have a dealer do the service, ask them if they replaced the nuts, as per the bulletin. They are not expensive, but very important.

[c5dura]

Thanks for the tip about picking up new axle nuts. I'll be sure to do that.

Guess I'll go ahead and pull the wheel & caliper to take a closer look since I'm unable to detect any play with the wheels off the ground. Perhaps I just have a very slight amount of wear at this point.

[rob@rone.ca]

My new 05 has made a strange front wheel noise since new.

At speeds of 80-100km (50-60 mph) it makes quite a noticeable humming noise from the left front wheel when turning slightly or moderately to the right.

Thes is no noise like that when turning left from the right front wheel, and no noise at all when going straight.

First time in, the dealer said it's normal tire noise. Just now in for first oil change (about 4500 miles on it) they thought it might need an alignment, and I should report it again next time.

Anyone else notice this?

[c5dura]

My truck developed this issue over the last 90 days. The noise/vibration becomes noticable at around 40 mph and steadily increases with speed from there.

The noise/vibration doesn't change when I turn/bank right or when going straight. It only goes away (and 100% at that) when banking left (like a long left sweep on the Interstate going about 80 mph).

As mentioned, I have ruled out the tires (even wear on all 6 and I rotated them). I also tried mounting the brand new spare on the front left wheel. None of that made any difference.

The thing that gets me is that I'm unable to detect any play in either front wheel assembly, not even 1/32" of play in any direction.

The drone is quite tiresome and drowns out the noise from the engine by the time I hit 60 mph.

[DmaxMaverick]

Originally posted by c5dura:
The drone is quite tiresome and drowns out the noise from the engine by the time I hit 60 mph. That's not a subtle issue. With that much vibration/noise, I'd suspect something serious. You should also check the CV joints as well. With the tires absolutely eliminated, that leaves only the bearings, brakes and CV joints. Is there any "noise" with 4 X 4 engaged while turning at low speed? Popping or clicking would be an indicator, but any noise wouldn't be out of the question.

[madmatt]

At the dealership to verify and find wheel bearing failures/noises, we'd put it on a lift(a good set of jack stands would work) lock it in 4wd and drop it in gear. Then take a stetiscope and listen for any varience in noises in suspected areas. you may need a helper to turn the wheels back and forth or speed things up a little.

[c5dura]

Maverick, I'll try doing some 4x4 figure-8's in the field when I get home this evening. I assume this is better than doing it in a paved lot to keep the stress on the driveline to a minimum, right?

I do have a lift, so if I don't discover anything from driving around in 4x4, I'll "drive" it on the lift. Hopefully I won't have a Ferris Bueller episode! My lift is a 2 post Bend-Pak rated for 9000#.

[madmatt]

Lifts are the sh!t and a great investment IMO! We've got twin post Rotary's. Also most commonly the bearing that is loaded while the noise is present is the failed unit. ex.. noise when turning to the left, RF wheel bearing may be the cause and vice versa (but not always) good thing about it is the hubs are interchangeable from side to side so take caution when removing the old one once you decide it's a wheel bearing, you may end up reinstalling that one on the other side.

[c5dura]

While I'm still not able to detect any play with the front wheels off the ground, the noise keep getting louder and louder.

Do I need to remove the calibers for a proper check of in-out play? I would think they would prevent much movement until removed, no?

I called the dealer and using my vin#, they told me the hub assembly part number is A9059060. Only problem is that according to gmpartsdirect.com, that is not a valid part number. Any ideas?

[oyazi]

Originally posted by c5dura:
...........I called the dealer and using my vin#, they told me the hub assembly part number is A9059060. Only problem is that according to gmpartsdirect.com, that is not a valid part number. Any ideas? Sounds like the dealer doesn't want to lose a retail sale to a wholesale house ;)

[c5dura]

Well, I certainly hope not! :D

Even without using that part number, I seem to have trouble locating the hub assembly on the gmpartsdirect website. I go to "Steering/Suspension" and then pick "FRT SUSP" and then "WHEEL HUB". The 3500 4x4 part# is 15056760, but when I then proceed to checkout, I'm told that part number is invalid.

So maybe the dealer did give me the updated part number but gmpartsdirect hasn't been updated yet although they know the old part number is no longer valid?

This is rather frustrating to say the least...