Bump good info.

 

The front wheel bearings are really easy to install.

 

Has anyone tried this without replacing the rear hubs, just new rear wheel bearings? I have 50K on mine and do a fair amount of road course driving in the summer (including using DOT track tires), so I'm giving serious thought to replacing them over the winter as preventative maintenance. I replaced the fronts last Spring.

--Bryce

 

Whats the easiest way to test which wheel bearings are bad? I cant afford to do all of them at once, so I'm gonna do just which ones are bad first

 

There are two ways to check wheel bearings that I'm aware of:

1) listen. a "growling" noise, especially when loading the bearings in a turn, is indicitative of a bad bearing. NOTE: I have had the "inside" wheels growl in a turn, it's not always the "loaded" wheels on the outside of a turn that can cause them to make noise.

2) Feel the wheels for slop (up/down wiggle) when a wheel is jacked up off the ground. If you can feel ANY detectable slop, your bearing is shot.

I replaced both rear wheel bearings on my G35 this winter as preventative maintenance, and the passenger's rear was totally shot. It made no noise at all. It had a HECK OF A LOT of slop in it, it would wiggle back and forth over 2 degrees. No wonder why I had such hard time getting a good camber setting on that wheel... That being said, I had 5 years, 50K miles and around 50 track events on that bearing. Nissan did one heck of a job designing a strong, durable vehicle!

--Bryce

 

I gotta do the brakes on the rear of the Altima tomorrow, so Ill check the G too after I'm done. Gonna be a long day!

 

I believe my rear(s) are done. I got this subtle "roaring/humming" sound that almost sounds like a 4 cylinder honda engine (sound not as exaggerated as an actual engine of course) that gets louder with speed. It's not that noticeable under 20 mph, and really noticeable at 50+ mph. I also get a squeaking sound as I brake and turn in low velocity (i.e braking and turning on a street).

Does this sound like a bad bearing? I haven't jacked up the car yet to check for any movement. And under what circumstances would the whole HUB have to be replaced?

I'm not afraid to do the installations myself. But I have no idea where to start.

I'm assuming I would have to remove the whole hub, take it to a shop along with my new bearings, and have them press them in?

And if one of my rears is bad, would you guys also recommend replacing the other one as preventative measures?

Thanks for any help!