[bahlorm]

Hey everyone, new guy here. I am hoping maybe you guys can help me out with this issue or if it may possibly be normal. I had the car jacked up the other day and realized that 1 of the front tires had a little bit of play in it, and it would turn the rotor and all. Figured maybe the lug nuts are a little loose and this is a new car to me. I checked the lug nuts today and they are tight. The car drives perfectly straight, and I hear no noise other than the insane noise of these cheap low profile tires they put on this thing. I am wondering if I should be concerned and if so what it may be? Also wondering if it may be a wheel bearing? And if so how hard would it be to change them in these vehicles?

 

[S2K2K4]

Wheel bearings are a pain in the ass and if one is bad then you will usually hear a humming when you turn. As a general rule, if you put your hands at 9 and 3 oclock on the tire and get play then you have a bad tie rod end, if you put them at 12 and 6 and have play then you have a bad wheel bearing.

 

[bahlorm]

Awesome thanks a lot I will check to see exactly where the play was. I am not hearing any kind of noise other than crazy loud tire noise or what sounds like tire noise from the cheap low profiles the person had on these tires.

 

[bahlorm]

My wheel has play all the way around lol. No matter where I have my hands it will move, while the other side is tight with no play at all.

 

[S2K2K4]

Then you're wheel bearing is in need of replacement. If the culprit were the tie rod end then you would ONLY have play at 9 and 3. the wheel bearing being bad will cause play all around. it is possible that both the wheel bearing and tie rod end are bad but thats somewhat unlikely. Replace the wheel bearing and see if there is any play after that.

 

[bahlorm]

Awesome s2k thanks for the info. I will have to probably take it to get that done since I can't even find a wheel bearing for the driver side anywhere. Plus I know nothing about suspension so it would be a new task for me.

 

[S2K2K4]

hah yeah take it out and get it done. Its not a task for someone who doesn't have the proper tools and experience.

 

[bahlorm]

I did end up getting it done and it fixed the problem. After about 9 hours lol. But now I know what I need to do next time plus learned the lower ball joint was bad too so I decided to replace that. Now the wheel has no play in it so you were right about the wheel bearing. Thanks a lot! I have a feeling I have a rear bearing out too so soon it will be time to get back under there lol.

 

[S2K2K4]

Yeah, as these cars get older they do have things that go out, but they are so worth fixing. I just did a complete overhaul of my front end. Rear end will be coming up soon.