lexusben

iTrader: (3)

So I noticed today when I was driving that my car was making a heart beat sound. The sound gets louder and the pace increase as I speed up. I think it may be a wheel bearing gone bad. Any ideas? I know that a couple of my rims aren't perfectly round so I was thinking it could be that, too.

VNN326

iTrader: (21)

you are correct. its your wheel barrrings try going into a parking lot and drive slow and have someone listening the outside to see which wheel it is

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

I think is is the left front wheel I rolled down my window while I was driving and it sounded like that was the source. I guess I'm going to search for a wheel bearing DIY.

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

Alright so I took my car to Firestone to get an opinion. They said that the noise is coming from my tires because they have uneven wear. Also, there is a nail in my front left tire (on the inside shoulder of the tire. I'm guessing this nail is making the heart beat noise. They are saying that the uneven tire wear is a result of the upper ball joints being loose. What do you guys think? And is there a DIY for Upper Ball joints? I know there is one for the lower ones. They said if they were to replace the Control Arm with the Ball Joints it would be 681 in total for both of the fronts.

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

Also, I found the Upper Control Arms at RockAuto: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=2001878
They are only $120 a piece? Does anyone have experience with Beck Arnley

entryspeed

iTrader: (3)

So i guess you will be glad to have those new tires and rims you bought from me. I drove them on the car at 80mph from virginia to florida. I can tell you they ride pretty good balanced as is but, if you have a fire stone close and since they are being shipped I would have the set balanced again before installing. GL with the fixes.

Ceezo

yea i did both my lower ball joints as soon as i got my car, not very hard to do either..i'd give it a try if i were you

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

They didn't mention any play in my Lower Ball Joints, just the Upper set.

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

Any ideas? And how can I check the Ball Joints, just wiggle them and see if they move easily?

entryspeed

iTrader: (3)

The only visual/hands on check you can do is check the rubber boot make sure its not cracked and if you have everything apart then you can do the lateral side to side and up and down check neither should produce any viable movement. Also the joint movement itself should not be all to loose. A nice tight yet smooth movement is desired.

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the advice. I just switched out the wheel that had a nail in it with a my spare. I was hoping the nail was the cause of the heartbeat noise but unfortunately the noise is still there. When I get the 17 inch wheels I'm going to put all of them on and see if the noise goes way. If it doesn't I'm going to go find another opinion because I can't find any threads that say the UCA would cause the kind of sound I'm getting from my car.

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

Alright, so I went to another place and they said my front left wheel bearing was in pretty bad shape which is just as I thought. I recognize that my UCS might also have troubles, but that is not the cause of the noise. This place quoted me $500 for a single wheel bearing? Isn't this really steep. I looked up wheel bearing diy's on here and it looks like a job that I could get done without spending too much. The wheel bearing is $50 and

I found this:

Remove the upper control arms and lower control arms off the car along with the traction rod. Then remove brake caliper and parking brake if it's the rear. Then remove cotter pin that secures the axle nut onto the hub. Then remove axle nut while slightly tapping the axle off the hub with a rubber mallet and pull everything off.

I could just take off the hug my self and take it some where to get pressed and save a ton of money.

What do you guys think about the quote and do the instructions above seem to cover everything?

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

Any one diy their hub bearing?

lexusben

iTrader: (3)

So I got it checked out again today and they actually pulled off the wheel and checked the bearing. It's in perfect condition... They said it might just be the upper ball joint that is making the sound. So I am going to get those replaced in 2 weeks and see if the noise goes aways once I get them fixed.