1990 Toyota Corolla front wheel bearings

Not long ago I changed my two drive axles thanks to some good help I got here. This took care of the clicking when turning but I think I still have a problem. When driving I have a noticeable sound, not quite a grind but a hum. If it happens to be raining hard and a lot of water is splashing around underneath, this gets much more noticeable. I'm fairly sure with what I just went through that I could get the hub off to take it somewhere to have the bearing removed and reinstalled, but I am wondering first of all if what I have described sounds like a bearing problem, and if I decide to take it to a shop to have them do it, how much would be the approximate cost. It is a lot colder now and I do not know if I have the room in my garage. Thanks again for any help.

 

That one is really tough to say. You can try doing some swerves in a parking lot to see if the additional side loading affects the noise. Or, put it up on jacks and see if you have any play in the bearing. Or use a short length of tube for a stethoscope on the hub and turn the wheel to see if you can pick up a rough sounding bearing.

I can't place why the rain under the car would affect a wheel bearing sound.

But a hum usually doesn't qualify for anything wrong. There are just a lot of noises that a perfectly running car makes and, quite often, we just don't pay any attention to them. Then one day we notice one of them and we assume something is wrong.

Hope this helps,

Bob

 

I've read literally hundreds of customer narratives related to wheel bearing failures. The most common description is a continuous "whining, growling, humming, or grinding" noise coming from the front end, most noticable at 30-50 mph.