Are my front wheel bearings about to fail? 2010 Tacoma - Update

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Are my front wheel bearings about to fail? 2010 Tacoma - Update

Posted: 5/25/2017 10:39:13 PM EDT

The last two or three weeks I am hearing new noise from my front wheels that sounds exactly like road noise. Tire pressure is good, tread wear is low, tires are Michelin LTX MS2. I think they have less than 25k miles, but are about 2.5 years old. I bought these tires partly because they are quiet. The pickup has 95k miles. 4 wheel drive.

I had a bad u joint on the front drive shaft last week, another warranty job.

I think the noise is getting worse, but it's hard to judge. What's going on, tread separation, on several tires at the same time, or bearings about to fail?

It's about to drive me crazy, there's nothing obvious.

Update -

All four bearings in the front wheels were bad, and the speed sensor on one side was stuck and broke on removal. Toyota's price for the speed sensor is over $242, and I think all it amounts to is an inductor wth a plug for the harness.

Next up is my 2009 Altima. Somehow I found the maintenance manual on line and have discovered that the dealership is more full of bullshit than I thought. Corporate will be getting a letter. Plus, the dash is starting the "melting" bullshit. This car will be going up for sale as soon as I finish a little clean up work.

Posted: 5/25/2017 10:51:19 PM EDT

[#1]

When my front right bearing went out on my 2010 Tacoma the grinding noise was significant. Didn't sound like road noise for sure.

Posted: 5/25/2017 10:51:36 PM EDT

[#2]

Find a lonely stretch of road.

Get up to a speed where you can hear the offending noise. Weave back and fourth smoothly but firmly enough to get some weight transfer going.

Does the noise change with the motion?

If yes the it's likely a hub/bearing assy.

Posted: 5/26/2017 9:06:52 AM EDT

[#3]

Quote History

Quoted:
Find a lonely stretch of road.

Get up to a speed where you can hear the offending noise. Weave back and fourth smoothly but firmly enough to get some weight transfer going.

Does the noise change with the motion?

If yes the it's likely a hub/bearing assy.

View Quote

Yes. My bearing noise would really start around 40 mph. I will remember your advice in the future.

Posted: 5/26/2017 9:12:48 AM EDT

[#4]

When you jack up the wheel and spin it, what does it sound like? Does it feel smooth? How long does it spin? Can you grab the top and bottom of the wheel and get it to move?

Posted: 5/26/2017 9:31:05 AM EDT

[#5]

My 2006 Prerunner got 180K Right and 210K left

Posted: 5/27/2017 1:11:46 AM EDT

[#6]

Quote History

Quoted:
Find a lonely stretch of road.

Get up to a speed where you can hear the offending noise. Weave back and fourth smoothly but firmly enough to get some weight transfer going.

Does the noise change with the motion?

If yes the it's likely a hub/bearing assy.

View Quote

this technique works well

Posted: 5/27/2017 7:38:49 AM EDT

[#7]

Try rotating the tires and see if anything changes.

I don't know anything about those trucks, so I can't be of much help other than that.

Posted: 5/27/2017 8:20:29 AM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
When you jack up the wheel and spin it, what does it sound like? Does it feel smooth? How long does it spin? Can you grab the top and bottom of the wheel and get it to move?

View Quote

Do the back-and-forth, speed-up-slow-down test. Then I'd get it up on a lift or jack stands and confirm which side with the top-and-bottom test on each wheel.

but you should really try to nail the noise down before you start replacing parts. the front end has a lot of stuff going on, some of which could create a grinding noise during failure... not just the wheel bearings

this is one way to tell, by rolling it and look-listen-feel. but it could also diagnose a caliper rubbing on a dust shield, which is popular

07 Tacoma - Bad Wheel bearing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs_7NGhfY_s

if they're bad they will rock up-down or back-and-forth, typically more play is presented the worse the failure is or becomes. if you rock the wheel up and down and get play, see if the wheel moves by itself. if other parts are moving as well, then you may have something else going on

here's an example of that test:

Toyota Tacoma bad wheel bearing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhI022pkjiY

Posted: 5/27/2017 9:45:06 AM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
this technique works well

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Find a lonely stretch of road.

Get up to a speed where you can hear the offending noise. Weave back and fourth smoothly but firmly enough to get some weight transfer going.

Does the noise change with the motion?

If yes the it's likely a hub/bearing assy.

this technique works well

I'll try that in a few minutes, didn't get a chance yesterday.

The tires and wheels were balanced, rotated, and aligned last week. New brakes on the front. Tie rod ends are about a year old and less than 20k miles.

Yesterday the noise increased with temperature, so I'd say it's a cinch.

I'm becoming way unimpressed by late model Jap vehicles.

Posted: 5/27/2017 12:13:14 PM EDT

[#10]

Tagging this thread.

My 2010 Tacoma has a slight vibration in the front end and I noticed a bit of what looked like grease seeping out where the wheel bearings live when I was in there doing brakes last week.

The challenge with mine is that it is a 5 lug truck (X-Runner) and I can't find shit about how the wheel bearings are configured for this truck. I have no idea if they are sealed bearings like the other trucks or conventional bearings like my previous 1st gen 2wd tacoma or my older 2wd pickup.

Plenty of info out there for the Prerunner and 4x4 (6 lug) but very little about the 5 lug Base and X-Runners.

Also: I agree with the OP about becoming less impressed with late model Japanese stuff.
While light years more powerful, comfortable and feature rich then the older stuff, the build quality seems to have gone downhill. Everything from thin, crap paint to lower quality plastics, fittings and hardware. It just isn't the same.

I own several older toyota/Lexus vehicles and have worked on all of them, from simple fixes to frame off restoration type work. They are just screwed together so much better then the new stuff.

Posted: 5/27/2017 1:10:26 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:...

Also: I agree with the OP about becoming less impressed with late model Japanese stuff.
While light years more powerful, comfortable and feature rich then the older stuff, the build quality seems to have gone downhill. Everything from thin, crap paint to lower quality plastics, fittings and hardware. It just isn't the same.

I own several older toyota/Lexus vehicles and have worked on all of them, from simple fixes to frame off restoration type work. They are just screwed together so much better then the new stuff.

View Quote

The NUMMI Fremont plant with its shitty GM quantity-over-quality model for popular vehicles is to blame.
Additionally, if you have a (2009-2011) "transition truck" you can kinda count on the assembly quality being a bit hit--or-miss, or simply sub-par.

Posted: 5/28/2017 10:18:12 PM EDT

[#12]

If brakes were done last week I'd be suspicious of a backing plate touching a rotor.

Posted: 5/29/2017 12:05:34 PM EDT

[#13]

Fails a swerve test.
It's under warranty, and I plan to force the issue to fix both sides next week.
I get to spend part of the week working on my Altima coupe. Daughter trashed the lh rocker cover against a curb, and I think someone backed into the front end hard enough to bust part of the bumper cover.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Are my front wheel bearings about to fail? 2010 Tacoma - Update

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