Hi

i have a rumbling noise (think even spaced small bumps in the road) at motorway speeds that sounds like its the front of the car. i suspect wheel bearings as its not there at low speed.

the vag cat shows the bearing as a one piece unit (without an additonal race) the simply slots into the hub behind a retaining ring, the hub (with disc) and held in by the hub nut. is this true? if so is it quite a straightforward swap?

any pointers appeciated.

regards

toby

The bearings are one piece but you have to press them in & out of the hub & you will need to remove the old inner race off the hub flange,i did mine & it took me about a hour & half per side but i do have a press & air tools etc!

Hi,

thanks for that mikey VRS - i've found a procedure on a VW forum and it looks normal enough.

could it actually be the tyre having flat spots? i've had bearing noise before and its more a whine but this is definately rumbling. the tyres are 4 mixed mostly cheap brands i've had since buying the car. it's not been involved in any high speed dramas or particularly heavy braking but i'm still suspicious.

what are the symptoms of flat/not perfectly round tyres? the steering is fine and ride is ok and it doesn't wander its just a noise at the moment only noticable above 60ish.

any thoughts?

thanks again,

toby

If it was flat spots then you would feel it through the steering as a judder/ vibration.

Does the sound change when you change gear, or is it constant?

Had to have a bearing done the other week, it started making a noise at higher speeds then gradually got worse, untill it did it at 25 & above.

there is very slight steering vibration but the roads in hampshire are beyond rubbish so i'd put it down to that.

as i only notice it at motorway speeds mostly on fresh tarmac and its more of a thumping noise. a passenger in the back asked if i had a flat tyre the other day so that sort of noise. the tyre pressures are fine but as before the tyres are mixed unheard of brands with at least 3mm tread all round.

i'll see about wheel movement sometime this weekend hopefully but i'm leaning more towards duff tyres or unbalanced wheels at the moment.

thanks

I had what I thought to be bearing noise on the front of my car when I got it, turned out to be the front tires been an unheard of cheap brand, and since the rears were getting low on tread anyway, so swapped all 4 at once and noise went away.