Wheel bearing wisdom: HALP!

4x4 4.0L automatic.
Toyo Open country AT3 tires with about 25,000 km on them

Over the past few months the wheel bearing whirring sound has been getting worse in my truck. There's also vibration coming through the steering wheel, floor boards and truck in general.

Of note: when I make higher speed or sharper right turns, the sound and vibration almost disappear completely. When I make left turns the sound is pretty consistent with straight line driving. This led me to the diagnosis of the front passenger side wheel bearing needing to be replaced.

I swapped out the front passenger side wheel bearing assembly with an SKF brand assembly that I bought online.

Took it for a test drive and the sound is still there!

Now I'm trying to figure out if it's the rear passenger side or if I should just replace the front driver side too. I'm going to put it up on jack stands tomorrow and test all 4 sides for play and vibration/noise while spinning the wheels. Looking for any advice on diagnosing which wheel bearing is in the worst shape and curious if anyone else has had issues with thinking they were replacing the bunk bearing only to realize it's a different one making the noise.

In hindsight I probably should've jacked it up and tested both front wheels for play and roughness/vibration while spinning before deciding which side to replace.

 

Just do the other front

 

My daughter’s outback had a loud bearing. I had 3 different people ride with me with the windows down to try and see which one it was. I think all 3 picked different wheel and one even the wrong axle. I even shot the hubs with a heat temp gun but couldn’t tell.

On jack stands I could feel it by spinning the wheel, and was the only way to be sure which one.

That frequency for some reason was hard to pin point.

 

As 999 noted...

I had the EXACT same issue OP is having, purchased an additional wheel bearing for the other side and noise was gone. From now on I would just replace both.

 

always do hubs in sets if you can

 

Replaced the driver side today. Solved the problem. No more noise!

Thanks everyone for the info and your input.

 

is there a step-by-step tutorial for this somewhere out there
to show procedure with specs + what parts are needed and what needs to come off to access the bolt-on bearings?

i see in the picture that the dust shield for the brakes was removed?

 

There are a few different videos on YouTube. I just watched those and then wrote down a list of the tools that I needed. There's not that many parts that need to be removed so it's not really that complicated. The hardest part is getting the wheel bearing assembly off of the CV axle spline. Everything else was pretty straight forward.

https://youtu.be/lvmwz8OXhhc?si=74WSXnCuNItJ8hB3

https://youtu.be/GFhW8MJ-pWM?si=hZQWX05eAvU3oO5C

 

Video on how to do it.
https://youtu.be/GFhW8MJ-pWM
thread listing what you need (in first post)
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-bearings-hubs-press-service-oe-nsk.537080/
thread that also has a ton of useful info
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-replace-front-wheel-bearing-2nd-gen.189356/

 

You beat me

 

If I bot the bearing from the yota dealershop parts dept will I have issues?
Such as the hub Assembly is separate from bearing and needs pressed out pressed in

 

I’m going to assume yes. What’s the PN you bought?

 

Oh no well that sucks,
I got the part number from this diagram.

43570-04010 I believe is that number

https://www.japan-parts.eu/toyota/u...powertrain-chassis/4303_front-axle-hub#43501F

 

That is how I did mine. I wanted NSK bearings but just didn't want to pay $400 for someone to press them together.
Very easy if you have a bearing tool set. There is a seal that goes between the hub and bearing.

Just replacing the already assembled hub is the way to go if you don't have the tools.

 

Could be the Needle bearing in the front Diff. Look up ECGS sleeve bearing fix for the needle bearing.

 

I ended up replacing the other front wheel bearing and the noise/vibration problem went away.

 

This humming noise started long before the odo hit 100k...I wanna say over 20k before when the wildpeaks had just 30k on them...so I was thinking it just the tires...or perhaps the transmission
It needs new tires in the next month or so we will find out if it is the aged falken tires lol

 

I also thought the humming might be the tires but at 150K I figured good chance it's the bearings. For piece of mind and instead of trying to figure out which side (I often read where folks on here mistakenly replace the good side) I replaced both with quality japanese bearings and the problem was resolved. It's no secret the $139 hub assys are using chinese bearings, no thanks. When I do the rears it will get new japanese bearings on both sides also. Cry once.

 

I have PERSONALLY found the right turn/left turn thing just about useless in determining which side wheel bearing. I don't know if it's something from older wheel bearing designs using hub spindles as compared to modern sealed bearings or what.

I know the adage about replacing both sides, but since I DIY, the tightness of my @ss compels me to only fix the side that's broke.

To that end, after a couple of "mis-replacements," I got around to getting myself a used wireless Chassis Ear off FleaBay, and it's been right 100% of the time -even when I thought it was wrong based on hearing/feeling. It's even been right when I thought it was a front bearing and it turned out to be a rear.