Maybe I Need An Alignment?

[Deuce_Nukem]

i mentioned this in the intro section but i figure i should stick it in here... becasue i'm bored and dont want to goto bed yet. . .

i just drove about 375 miles from illinois and the only time it was really e joyable was when i was turning to the right... see, for some reason th rigth front makes a loud hum sound at/above 45 or so. it's not just a hum, its a vibration i can feel in the wheel and in the pedals. the car apperently got new tires put on it 5k miles ago and im not sure if it was aligned at the time. i'm a little concerned about premature tire wear, but more concerned that ive got to ahve the stereo almost half way up to drown out the damn noise.

if you need more specific info, i'll be glad to give it: just tell me what you need

does anyone have any ideas what i might need to do to get this to quit? the dealer we bougth the car from will reimburse is for whatever we get done (provided it's actually to help solve the problem) so please feel free to offer your opinions and suggestions and argue amongst yourselves until a final solution is reached... ;) actually i'd ust like somehting to tell the guy at the local chevy dealership... so far all i can really say is what's said in my second paragraph there. . .

thanks

[brsexton]

Yep, I am almost 100% sure you have a bad wheel bearing. I had the same problem last month. Mine started the same noise on a 700 mile round trip. Brought it back home and they replaced the left wheel bearing.

[Deuce_Nukem]

roger that. . . thanks alot.
is there any way my local chevy delership and test the bearing just to be sure?

[brsexton]

I'm sure they can. They will just put that wheel off the ground and run the car in Drive. If it makes the noise that means the bearing is shot.

[alero_ecotec]

I have the same problem from what I can tell. Car goes in tomorrow morning to get fixed, luckily its all still under waranty.

[Deuce_Nukem]

let me know what they fix/replace

the more i listen to it the less i think its a wheel bearing. . .
my dad seems to think one wheels is way out of whack as far as camber is concerned... i dunno...

[bassboss]

a buddy of mine had the same sounds and vibrations in his cavilier and when he took it in it was a bearing that was gone. so yeah when you get it checked post uo what to prob. was and let us know

[alero_ecotec]

well, she's in the shop right now....and has been for 2 and 1/2 hours....so im interested to see what they're going to tell me...i'll let you know

[alero_ecotec]

Well, just got back from getting my car. It was the left front wheel bearing as i had thought. And i know from talking on here that i'm not the only one who's had this problem with the car.

[brsexton]

How many miles do you have? Thats funny because I had my left one replaced on my 2003 Alero at 34k.

[alero_ecotec]

haha, well, ironically i have 34K on my car

[brsexton]

:glare: I guess our cars were made on the same day....... :lol:

[alero_ecotec]

i half wonder if it's just our year or what...b/c im sure i've talked to 2 other people both with 2003's who had the same problem

[brsexton]

Well I am on grandamgt.com and gaownersclub.com alot and see a bunch of people that have the same issue with their 99+ cars. Most of them have more miles on their cars then we do. Thats what the strange part is.

[Deuce_Nukem]

mine's just over 65k right now, but i got it at about 64.5k... it may have been bad for a while before i got the car. . .my dad still thinks it's camber. . .

hey, ecotec, what's the damage(price) on a repair such as the one im assuming ill need done?

[alero_ecotec]

well, to tell you the truth im not sure because mine was covered under waranty, but someone else may have an idea

[Deuce_Nukem]

roger...
thanks
aye, just to reconfirm... you had a loud hum upwards of 30mph or so and when you turned one way it got louder and the other way it got quieter? if not, can you explain how your symptoms were dfiferent?

[LiquidXtassy]

i could be your wheel bearing...... i happened to me it felt and sounded like i was riding on a flat tire.... its about 250 to fix

[sound_xtreme]

Originally posted by Deuce_Nukem@Mar 25 2005, 01:29 AM
mine's just over 65k right now, but i got it at about 64.5k... it may have been bad for a while before i got the car. . .my dad still thinks it's camber. . .

hey, ecotec, what's the damage(price) on a repair such as the one im assuming ill need done?
Quoted post


camber??? wtf is he on?

[Deuce_Nukem]

he thinks that a tire trying to turn itself will whine like that. . . he keeps telling me to be really vague and sound like an idiot getting ti fixed tomorrow. . . so i get to get up in 7 hours to get my sister's friend adn then head to the chevy dealership in town...

wish me luck... hah (glad i dont have to pay for whatever's up with it... just bought it, so repairs are all reimbursed...)

[Deuce_Nukem]

update...

man did i get screwed over on this deal...
the hub assembly was $270... i can get it for $114 at freakin auto zone...
on top of that, i had to sit there for about 4 hours...
on top o that, labor was about $108... (i took everyhting apart when i got home... not worth $108 by FAR)
and then to stack on top of all this. . . they screwed up...
i dont know if they gave me a bad assembly, if it was improperly refurbished, or what... but basically, my right front wheel has about 15 degrees of play in it. . . it's got so much play, in fact, that i thought my brakes were leaking fluid. . . why is that? basically, the rotor was wedging against the pad and pushing it back into the caliper every time i turned the wheel... (that's how much play ive got) each time i pushed the pedal it had to push the caliper back out. i actually got NO brake pressure till about 2/3 fo my pedal movement! there's so much play, if i turn hard, the rotor is actually grinding against the damn caliper mount with enough force that itll stop the car at a high idle... as far as i can tell, the assembly was bolted properly to the spindle thing, the CV and everyhting was in there right. . . and the hub assembly was just... bad... i took the wheel, caliper, caliper mount, and rotor off and i could actually move the hub assembly by hand. . .
up, down, sideways. . . it felt like the bearings inside were too small or something. . . the damn thing was more like a CV joint than a hub bearing assembly...
either way, it's not good. i had to drive about 20 miles liek that to my house and back... scared the crud out of me...

it's in their shop right now and theyre gonna have a "front end specialist" look at it tomorrow... those jerks tried to tell me it was the left wheel bearing making the grinding noise. . . i should have slapped the "technician" who worked on my car... what kind of idiot deems a car safe when a wheel can toe in/out and camber in/out 15 degrees when the tire is on a lift? this guy was trained... ive got general mechanical knowlege and some r/c experience and i found this out... this guy needs to get fired...

but i should stop ranting now. . .

$414 w/ tax to SCREW UP replacing my front left hub bearing assembly...

$5.50 gas there and back twice

me showing back up an hour later letting them know they screwed up... priceless

i got new brake pads outta the deal though HAHA
we'll see if theyre competent enough to get it fixed by tomorow night. . .
(truth be told, i have to get it done by tomorrow night because my temp tag expires tomorrow. . . and i didnt get emissions done yet...)

wow... long post
just one final thanks to the idiot technicial who could have gotten me killed today. . . (and tried to make a profit on it) "Thanks, Retard!"

out...

[Str8tFKNuUP]

I've got the same problem, started about a week or so ago, hum or vibration after i get above 40 or 45km/h, turn a little to the right it gets louder, turn a little to the left it gets quieter. The sound almost sounds like something was rubbing on your tire tread as you are driving.
wheel bearings easy to replace yourself? or am I screwed.

[Str8tFKNuUP]

I've come to the conclusion of reading the same problem over and over in this forum, and with my ABS and Trac off lights being on that its my drivers side HUB and Bearings. Now all i have to do is find out for sure.

[Deuce_Nukem]

sounds about right. . . if youve got a big enough socket for the bolt that goes in the CV shaft (spindle bolt?) i dont see why it'd be so hard to take off yourself. . .
take off the wheel, caliper, caliper mount, rotor, and then unscrew the spindle bolt and three are 3 bolts that hold the assembly to the hub...
might be hard to reach them wiht a socket, but a wrench should be no problem...

team chevrolet charged me $270 for the part, but auto zone had an OEM replacement one for $114. . . wtf. . .

oh well. . .

good luck...
keep us posted