How long from initial growl to bearing failure?

Ok, those of you have had a bad bearing whether it be wheel bearing or something else. How long from when you first noticed the vibration/growl until you either found the culprit, or it completely failed? The reason I ask is I have developed a vibe/ growl from 20 to 40, but everything I have checked has been ok. The only thing I haven't done is shims on the rear axle. I don't think its driveline though. I have had my carrier bearing flipped for about 8 months now and initial thought was that was it, but I just flipped it back stock and I got vibes in other speeds, but the 20-40 stayed the same. I then tried stacking washers but that just changed the speeds of the other vibrations. I also did the ecgs bushing about 2k miles ago. I did the wheel bearing checks and I don't think its them, but not 100%. I want to take it to the dealer and have them check it out. But when I had my dodge and it got a bad injector the same dealer "couldn't hear anything" until it was a serious knock, then they took care of it. I'm worried Ill get the same thing with this. I have a few big trips coming up and I don't want it to strand me somewhere.

 

What's the ECGS bushing you're talking about?

As far as bearing failure, it could vary a lot depending on how bad the bearing actually is and how you drive. If you know you have a bearing going out, I'd replace it sooner rather than later.

 

The ecgs bushing in the front diff? Surely you're trolling me? Trust me, I will replace whatever is bad as soon as I find it. I just don't know what it is.

 

Oh, no, not trolling, just having a brain fart

 

Well I have an appointment next week to have the dealer look at it. Hopefully they dont shun me because of the lift... I checked for loose fasteners last night, and didnt find anything. I jacked up the front and there is a clicking in the driver hub/cv. Not sure if its normal cv noise or not. I also noticed in the carrier bearing there seems to be an awful lot of movement up and down within the isolator rubber. Back and forth not so much, about 1/2" but the up and down was at least an inch of movement. I am going to have them look at that, and the wheel bearings. Also my power steering pump has gotten louder the last couple days. I'm pretty pumped on this truck right now.

 

If I remember correctly my dad had a shit ton of play in his carrier bearing before he switched to a one piece.

 

Hopefully they dont decide to swap my front diff out. That would be a bummer to have to buy and install another ecgs bushing.

 

Dealer called me. They cannot find anything suspect in the vibration case. They recommend balancing tires and spacing the carrier bearing. I am probably going to buy some shims for the rear axle, and a carrier bearing drop to try. Power steering pump is in failure mode. They ordered one to be installed next week. Side note, they are pretty aftermarket friendly. So thats good.

 

Have you tried to run the truck on a lift and get underneath it to try and locate the noise? Also if you use a pry bar and a GENTLE prying motion between the lower control arm and the CV joint at the wheel you can sometimes spot excessive movement of the bearing that won't always show on a wiggle test. From there other options to try and locate the noise would be perhaps borrow a friend's GoPro and attach it to different places under the truck and record video and sound?

 

I dont really have access to a lift thats close, I have a buddy about 120 miles away that has a lift in his shop, but thats it. I will try the pry bar to check for play. I have a gopro, never even thought of that. For the front where/how is the best place to mount it? Thanks for the help.

 

I would say mount it anywhere where you can see the CV shaft where it goes into the wheel bearing, and where you can secure it from falling/bouncing off.