Defective bearing, wheel bearing “break in period”?

I just replaced the passenger wheel bearing on my 05. I used a Timken bearing, and a Durango hub. I pressed it together myself.

I put the new assembly on, and it immediately made noise. Even though my old wheel bearing was very bad in terms of play, it barely made any noise at all. The new wheel bearing, although still very quiet, makes noise. I think.

There are two different noises going on. One of them is a soft rhythmic thump. Once per revolution. Can be heard best 25-40mph. The other noise is the classic low humming that can beat be heard at highway speeds.

Both noises go away entirely (or almost entirely) when turning right.

I asked a trusted car guy. He rode along with me and confirmed it was the right side.
He said not to worry about it - ‘sometimes wheel bearings need to be broken in’
I wasn’t so sure about that one...

Do I have a warranty claim on my hands? Did I mess up installation? Or is this a ‘needs some miles to break in’ deal?

 

The new bearings seems to have fixed some symptoms of the bad bearing. Such as shaking at certain highway speed’s, and shaking while breaking.

 

I’m interested in learning the cause of the rhythmic noise at 25-40mph. My truck has had that for the past 3 years even though I haven’t changed any wheel bearings.

 

I’ve never heard of breaking them in

 

Whatever it is, it sounds like something that is going to make itself obvious in the near future.

Did the old bearing hide these noises?

Is it a bad press?



Def. not a break in noise. More like break out.

 

I would say it's on you but if you bought it locally, they may be willing to eat it to keep a customer happy.
Curious if you torqued the axle nut?

I just noticed this is second gen. You have a better option than us 1st genners do.

 

173 ft lbs.

I bottomed out the hub into the bearing.

I thought the “hide the noises” as well.
You fix one noise and the rest can now be heard.
But it’s definitely coming from the right side. I can hear the humming and feel a low grade vibration in the floor.

 

I jacked up the wheel. No play in the bearing. 200 mile drive to Morgantown so we’ll see when I get there. If it’s bad, should be good and hot when I stop.

I’ve literall got 76 miles on this bearing as I’m making this thread. Noises happened literally within .5 miles of install

 

Swap bearing with driver side. If noise moves, its the bearing. If noise doesn't move, you know its something else.

 

No I did not take the bearing apart and add grease

 

Unless it was prepacked, you would have to have done that. I dont know if that would make the noise, but you do need grease in there

 

I wouldn't think it would be noisy from the get go but do believe there's something to this.

 

I put in new wheel bearings and drove 4,000 miles cross country the next day.

 

Depending how the bearing was pressed in, it could already be shot. Unfortunately, I've learned to do this right the hard way.

Did you press the bearing from the inner or outer race? Was there any binding when you pressed the bearing in? I freeze all my bearings now and heat the spindle/carrier either with a torch or in the oven first. The bearing usually just falls in. Very little, if any, potentially damaging presswork required.

 

I just did both fronts, started with the passenger side which I thought was the problem, got it installed and went for a test drive, noise/vibe was better but still there. Got it back in the garage and changed the drivers side, instantly smooth.

My noise went away when turning right, and seemed worse when turning left. I was sure it was the passenger side, but it fooled me. At least consider it a possibility that its your drivers side thats out.

 

What he said!

 

It def. is hard to pinpoint sides, sound bounces so much under there and unless you're tied underneath, I doubt you can really tell. Have you taken the driver's side down to feel it?

 

Not sure how I would add grease to this. It's a sealed unit. I would just tear it apart taking one of the seals off.

I pressed it in using a drift that only pressed on the inner race

This is possible. I'm going to try things with a stethoscope (or long screwdriver) to confirm.

 

Bamatoys (maybe the other guy who sells premade hubs) shows how to grease them, yes the seal pops out.
And I think that's exactly how NOT to press it. Should be by the outside with NO pressure on the inner.

 

^^^Yup. If you drive the bearing on the inner race, you can put a lateral load on the bearing it was not designed to take. Only drive/press the outer race, and even then, the bearing can be damaged if not pressed straight and true. If you did in fact drive the bearing on the inner race, I would bet a cold beverage the bearing is toast. Sorry OP.