Front end noise sounds like wheel bearing?

[gws935]

I have a noise comming from the front end it sounds like a wheel bearing but it does not change much when you turn side to side. Tire wear is noticable on the outer shoulders of both front tires. My mechainc drove it today and suggested that it might be a carrier bearing or possibly both front wheel bearings are shot so it is hard to tell or notice a change when turning back and forth. He wants to get it up on the lift and investagate more. It kind of sounds like you are driving over a bridge with metal grading all the time above 20mph it will change tone with speed. it does not change when you coast in neutral. He knows that I'm a mechainc as well and I have used him for a long time any advice please.

[gws935]

Just woundering if anyone had any sugestions of any other things to look at.

[Weasel]

If the tires are worn really choppy at the outer edge it can cause a roaring tire noise that sounds similar to bearing noise. If that is the case just swap tha front and rear tires to see if the sound changes. Otherwise, it isn't all that uncomon for the front bearings to go over the years, especially if the front axle shafts had any work done like the outer boots because the bearings are messed with in that job.

[gws935]

Thank you for your response the outerboots were done about 6 months ago by the same mechanic. I think today I will rotate the tires and see if the noise changes. I just hope that it is not a problem with the drive train I can handle a wheel bearing but I really don't want to mess with the big stuff. I'm already a little disapointed since it started getting thirsty for oil the last 18 months

[JCL]

Driving over a metal grating is a good analogy for a typical wheel bearing noise. Mine failed early (LF), and was covered under warranty. It had the characteristic wheel bearing sound (sort of a ruh-ruh-ruh noise) that varied with speed, was on the left side, but didn't vary at all with cornering.

My dealer fixed it promptly, and when asked did acknowledge that it was a fairly frequent occurence on the X5.

If you want to do it yourself, there are DIY guides posted on this site.

[alpac]

It is not always easy to distinguish the noise coming from a worn wheel from the noise of a worn tire. Often a wheel bearing's noise will intensify in curve so one way to identify a worn wheel bearing is to get up to the speed where you start hearing the noise and then swerve on the right and then on the left to see if the noise changes in intensity. You can also jack up the car, grab the wheel and try to move it left to right and up and down. If you can feel some play then the bearing is probably going south.

[gws935]

I just got back from driving the truck after rotating the tires and balancing the pressures. JCL liked my metal grating analogy, I liked his (ruh-ruh-ruh noise) LOL that is it. The metal grating noise picks up at about 17-20mph and really does not go away at all it just gets louder with speed. The (ruh-ruh-ruh) starts in at about 23 to 25-26ish. If I unload the left front by turning to the left and put the weight of the truck on the right front the (ruh-ruh-ruh) gets louder and if i turn to the right and load up the left front corner it does not(ruh-ruh-ruh) as much and sometimes not at all I'm thinking the left front bearing. I had this problem on my 93 525 (e34) and rocking left and right in a stright line you could change the sound very easily. This vehicle maybe because of the all wheel drive I'm just guessing it was not as easy. I was able to figure this out today by accomplishing long turns and then unloading the bearing quickly and paying very close attention. I did the E34 bearing I'm not doing this one! Thanks to all for the help/advice I will update the post when I get the truck back from the shop.