wheel bearing?

Mods - if this isn't in the right spot feel free to move where needed.

truck is an 05 2.7 4x4 access cab 95,000 miles

on my way to go grocery shopping today and as I pulled out I thought I heard a clunking noise, speeding up as I speeded up but once I got above 35ish it disappeared. once into town I noticed it again but this time it seemed louder and I could feel it more. finally I pulled into a parking lot and stuck my head into the front drivers side fender and it looks like the cv boot exploded and there is grease all over the inside of my wheel, caliper, etc... I'm not impressed


so my main question is, is this a wheel bearing? next, is the axle or anything else possibly damaged from this? I'd have to spend a few hundred dollars, take it apart and put in new parts to find there's something else involved..


I'm guessing it was close to going not that long ago. about a month ago I added bilstein's to level things out after the chevy leaf mod on the rear. rumor has it that a front lift is hard on the bearings, among other things...


thanks for listening to me ramble.. I needed to vent about this as I'm not overly excited this happened

 

How many miles on the truck? It could be wheel bearing or it could be just CV having problem. You need to lift front and check wheels to see if they can be moved. If you can do this with out the break pads. That should tell you if you need new wheelbearings.

 

95,000 on truck.
Could you clarify when you say see if the wheel rotates without the brake pads?

 

Probably just a CV. I bet you lost the boot after the lift, ran it dry as the grease slung out, and broke it. You can get "lifetime" warranty CV's complete at shucks/kragen pretty cheap...
Just in case jack up the front end and see if you can wobble the tire north to south...

 

95 k miles its about right on wheel bearings
so
1. Lift whole front since you should check both sides
2. Remove wheel
3. remove break pads
put the wheel back and tighten two or three bolts to spec
4. grab wheel with left hand at 6 o'clock and right hand on 12 o'clock
5. Try moving wheel as trying to pull with one hand and push with other
If wheel wobbles you know for sure you need wheel bearings.
Hope that helps.
95 k miles is about right for those wheelbearings to be bad, whats good is by know there are kits sold that are pretty much bolt on replacement so you can do it yourself with out spending arm and leg at dealer.

 

Thanks guys. I hadn't heard of removing pads to do that check st that's why I asked. I'll bundle up tomorrow and find out what I'm up against.