I'm pretty sure one of my bearings is a little noisy

Am I better off getting the bearings replaced or just greased?

am gonna get my front suspension changed soon too.

Check the bearing(s) for wear first. Then decide whether to regrease or replace.

You don't have to touch the bearings in order to change the struts I think.

I have found the rear ones aren't too challenging to DIY and are a tenner a set off ebay.

should really do the read bearings on mine, but theres to much to sort at the front, there gunna have to get re-greesed for now.

If its the rears, then its not much more work to replace bearings than to grease and adjust. If you are getting a garage to do it it shouldnt be much more cash. You can also check the state of your brakes at the same time....

Only extra work is knocking them out with a largeish pin punch and hammer (at least that's what I used), getting rid of the grease, inserting new ones and replacing grease seal. To knock them out there are 3 points at which you can place the punch, which can be felt with finger. With a bit of practice you should be able to knock the old ones out in litrerally no time. I put the new inner races in the freezer as theoretically that should slightly shrink the metal aiding insertion. You can use the old races and a block of wood to help knock the new one's in (at least that's what I ended up doing) but be careful to do it with the tapered edge (tapered on the outside edge) downwards as you don't want to do what I've done before and not be able to get the old bearings out from on top of new one's. Most ideal solution is to use a suitably sized socket.

I had a rear one go on me... but just had it replaced by the garage seen as though they were doing the back brakes anyway.

Didn't cost the earth either.

Phil

Damn! I wish I had remembered which one I had replaced now as I have a droning noise from about 40+ mph which I suspect as a wheel bearing.

There is no play in either of the wheels though but there is a slight grating noise when I turn the rear N/S one.

Really don't have the time to do it myself so got it booked in at the garage round the corner.

Don't rule out a wheel bearing being faulty because it was replaced not long ago. I made this mistake when replacing bearings. I looked at the previous MOT before I owned the car and noticed the wheel bearings on one side had been replaced, so when I got the wheel bearing noise I replaced the other side but it wasn't until I replaced the side that had been done not long ago that the sound went.

Could it be that the garage that replaced it tightened the nut up too tight? Could this cause early failure of the bearing?

I'm almost certain it was the N/S that was replaced before and that is the side that is grinding slightly when I turn the wheel by hand.

Phil

yes, overtightening the driveshaft nut can damage the bearing. you sure the grating noise you can hear isn't the brake pads rubbing on the discs?

I think Phil may be refering too the rear bearings - although I suspect over tightening those wouldn't do much good either. I get grinding noises when i spin my rear wheels too which I suspect is the shoes on the drum. I don't think bearings usually make grinding noises though. I think the best way is to spin as fast as possible and stick your far next to the wheel listening for a sort of whirring noise.

oh right, the rear ones.. ok well that would be even worse if you overtightened it because it's not a sealed bearing, i suspect it would just break up over time

Well thats probably what's happened then.

I told the garage this anyway so they should do it right!

Thanks

Phil

IME wheel bearings start as a squeal, and turn into a rumble if not replaced before they start collapsing.

Well it was the wheel bearing. Will see how this one goes and if it starts again will get it back to the garage.

The noise was a low pitched hum that could be heard quite clearly from around 35mph +.

Phil