What a bad wheel bearing sound like?

[jcb986]

Originally Posted by sasha055

I didn't change tires.. I bought the car in feb, previous owner changed rear tires.. I aligned them at les shwab's.

I'm not sure how it was before.. I myself didn't notice the noise until recently... but then again I thought that crazy vibration at 3k rpm, extremely hard shifting and paying 1000$ for "brake job" to dealer is normal...

It's my first used car.. and I'm freaking out from time to time

Thanks for all the good advice!

Sasha

First thing first...is Les Schwab a Porsche shop or tech. The camber and toe need to be at the Porsche specs.
Do you know how many miles where on the tires before the alignment.
My point is the tire may have wear spots and by changing the alignment you may be picking some noise from this change. I would brake the tire down and re-seat it.
Use an Infrared Digital Thermometer to read the heat at the axle after you drive one day. Read the good side and then the bad side. If there is a substantial difference then you have a bearing going out. If they are about the same, then the bearing is good. If you don't have one you can get one from ebay for less than $20.
What brand are the tires....

[edevlin]

This is for all those with higher mileage boxsters. I think my rear wheel bearings are going, I have about 95K on my 2000 base boxster with the original bearings. How many in the group have boxsters 90K+ that are running their original rear wheel bearings, thanks,

Ed

[sasha055]

MIne is most probably a bearing.
I finally got a thermometer (wasn't paying attention and got one from china.. I mean shipped from china) and checked the temperature on the axle after driving about 1 hr.

Axles were same at about 96 degrees. However when I checked temperature at the boot, "bad" side was about 12 degrees hotter (116 deg vs 104 deg)

I also went to an local porsche shop (non dealer ) and owner was kind enough to drive around with me.. and pointed out the bearing too..

Next weekend will be a DIY wheel bearing weekend.. hopefully I can do it

On the side note, I changed my engine mount, spark plugs, fuel filter, oil and belt this weekend.. car feels great! no more vibration! idle went up from 600RPM to 800RPM and feels more steady! and I feel proud! it's my first time getting under the car!

Thanks everyone for great advice and support! Thanks to Pedro for excellent DIY section!
And to everyone who wants to DIY it.. if I can do it .. anyone can do it! Don't be afraid
I'm a software engineer, I never got my hands dirty and never held a wrench before.. I didn't even knew the difference between wrench and socket.. and I did it!

Thanks a lot!
Sasha

[Wret]

Just changed one of mine yesterday. Sounded like tire pattern noise for months. I finally decided to change the tire although there was plenty of tread left. Noise was still there! The bearing change took care of the noise.

[sasha055]

Wret, was it hard? any piece of advice or tips?

Did you use one of the online DIY's? How long did it take?
Any special tools?

Sorry for all the questions
Thanks
Sasha

[Wret]

It wasn't particularly hard but I managed to spread it out for most of the day with breaks for beer, soaking in the pool, bbqing, and an unplanned father's day celebration.

I did it without the special $250 tool. I found and reviewed two or three DIY's and accumulated some parts for a couple weeks that I thought I would need. I didn't remove the strut, only the ball joing connections for the toe and camber control arms. A generic hub puller that did the trick for the pulling the hub, which came out with half the bearing attached to it.


A 12"x 5/8 threaded rod with various washers got the rest of the bearing and shell out. The one part that might be harder to find is a cup to draw the bearing into. A 3" pipe or aluminum conduit union would be perfect but Home Depot doesn't stock anything that large. Maybe a plumbing or electrical supply store. Fortunately I had a piece of pipe that did the trick. I'll try a little sketch.

The part of the bearing still seized to the hub might give you a problem. I scored it slightly with an angle grinder blade so that it cracked and slid off. The most frustrating thing was getting the shafts of the ball joints to slide back in. The socket has a lip near the top and the shaft kept getting hung up and would slide past the lip. I ended up smoothing the lip just a bit with a drill and it slide right in. I put the bearing in the freezer before pressing it in with the same threaded rod tool and also chilled the hub before pressing it in.

[sasha055]

Thanks Wret!

I'm planning to use HF tools for that

http://www.harborfreight.com/fwd-front-wheel-bearing-adapters-66829.html

and

http://www.harborfreight.com/17-piece-heavy-duty-slide-hammer-kit-5223.html

You gave me enough confidence to tacke it!

Thanks
Sasha

[Wret]

That bearing set should work if the spacer ring is big enough. I actually have the same slide hammer. I tried it first and broke the adapter plate after about 30 or 40 good whacks. It is VERY cheaply made. The other type hub puller was my fall back and it worked like a charm.

I'll be taking the slide hammer back for a refund.

[gschotland]

Check out this specialized Porsche rear wheel bearing tool... that's NOT made by Chinese prison laborers. Actually it's sold "factory direct" from an enthusiast in Missouri (I think) who has a day job. Apparently he's got a great reputation.

http://www.arnnworx.com/BearingTool1.htm

A phenomenal value at only $105(!!!) and you can probably easily resell for not much of a hit because it can be used on so many Porsche models going all the way back to 1974.

I will definitely be buying when the time comes, which won't be long.

[986piper]

Originally Posted by extanker

have a mechanic check your car

Seriously? This is a forum where a member is looking for help from other DIYers.

[jdraupp]

Originally Posted by 986piper

Seriously? This is a forum where a member is looking for help from other DIYers.

Seriously? You revived a FIVE year old thread to chide someone for suggesting a mechanic?

This forum is about helping people find solutions. Not everyone on here has the skill or desire to do everything themselves. The wheel bearing is a very difficult job as I understand it, and even though I've done a lot of jobs on my car, I still wouldn't tackle it alone.

Going to a mechanic, especially a quality indy mechanic, isn't the end of the world. Or maybe you'd like us to help you do a front end alignment by hand? Some things you need a pro for...no shame in that.