Gentlemen,

What are the signs/sounds/things to look for if my wheel bearings are going bad or already bad???

Any ideas/info will help a lot.

As of right now I have steering wheel shaking at highway speeds and have already had a balance done. TWICE. So I am assuming it is the wheel bearings at this point but I do not know what to look or listen for...???

Cheers and thanks ahead of time!!

 

You won't notice a shake if your wheel bearings are bad. You will hear a whirring or whistling sound as you cruise at speed.

You should ask a mechanic to check your wheel bearings. All he has to do is jack the car up and wiggle the wheel, or use a stethoscope and listen for abnormal noises coming from the bearing. A shaking steering wheel at highway speeds, as discussed previously, are caused my out of round tires/wheels, or unbalanced tires/wheels.

Brake rotors may be a possibility if they are also unbalanced due to warpage.

 

Topics regarding these issues have been discussed countless times.

Press search, it's your best friend.

 

I did a lot of searching and have done everything...changed rotors, had bearings checked, rims look fine, tires look fine, just my luck I guess...so frustrated its annoying. oh well haha i guess

 

I'm at 100k and have never had a wheel bearing replaced. 2004 sedan.

 

A bad bearing would either click or cause a romp romp noise. If you tried everything, then it could be a bent rim or perhaps a bent control arm.

 

You have never had any steering wheel shake at highway speeds? I do not think it is the bearing....I just have run out of options and things to check

 

What is the best way to tell if you have a bent/damaged/dented wheel? Who would be the best person to go to and what kind of machinery would they need to have?

 

An indy specialized Nissan / Infiniti shop. They will know right away.

Up here in Toronto I use Simone performance. They race & build g35 and specv's. Perhaps you have something similar in your area.

I've always went that route for any car I've owned. I'm sure some members from Cali can point you in the right direction. Or pull a search Cali shops or create a post if you find nothing

 

Other than a visual inspection, any respectable tire shop can tell by putting it on the balancing machine and measuring runout.

OP, when was the last time you had your wheels road-force balanced? That might help.

The whirring/whop noise is typical of wheel bearing issues, but can also be caused by toe wear (had this issue twice and went away after replacing tires.)

 

I'm just a random noob but I'll chime in, in case it helps at all. Could possibly be suspension damage, probably worth the time to inspect it. I had a bent tie rod at like 50k miles, crappy Ohio roads despite careful driving. It sounds like it's not the wheel bearings, but i will say, I just replaced both front wheel bearings and at 73,000 miles they both were pretty shot. I'll add, interestingly enough, there was no play in the wheel when I had it lifted so just note that is not always the sure check. A bent rim should be easily detected by a road-force balance and visual inspection. Lastly, if you have another set of tires even worn ones to test out try that. You'll get to the answer just gotta cover the bases.

 

Could be tires. How old are they?

 

juat had mine replaced on the rear.. had a humming noise nut now i hear a click which may mean its the otheerrr side

 

Many times, new tires solve this problem. What kind of tires do you have?

 

I have a 08 G35X with 57k miles on it. About a month ago - noticed a low pitched whirring sound coming from left front - suspected wheel bearing. Brought to my mechanic - and sure enough - wheel bearing replaced. About 3 wks later - hear it again - this time was right front - so, i made an appt with my mechanic and asked if this was normal for wheel bearings to fail like this - one after another. He said "absolutely" - i had never heard of that.
Interesting - this is my 3rd infiniti. Each infiniti had to have a wheel bearing replaced. My 06 Maxima also had to have one replaced. Never had to do it on any car before. Is this a Nissan/Infiniti thing?

Wondering if anyone else had this happen.