I recently started hearing a sound like a wheel.

Tiny
ANONYMOUS
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 MERCURY SABLE
  • 74,000 MILES
I recently started hearing a sound like a wheel bearing going bad. I have replace all 4 bearings and I still have the sound. It is loud at 15 mph especially turning left, and it is very loud and rough sounding at 70 mph.
Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 AT 3:25 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,871 POSTS
Repeated bearing failure is usually the result of improper installation procedures. There must never be any weight on them unless the axle nut is torqued to specs and that value is critical. Many people put the wheel on and set it on the ground to hold the axle from spinning so they can tighten that nut. At that point it's too late. Without the nut tightened to hold the bearing together it will instantly become noisy. The simplest solution is to place a punch or screwdriver in one of the rotor's cooling slots and let it butt up against the caliper mount, then you must use a click-type torque wrench. All new bearings come with a sheet of instructions that list the torque value. Those values are especially critical on Fords because the engineers messed up the suspension in a big way. "Camber" is not adjustable and it was designed to make the front tires run on the outer edges of the tread. That puts excessive stress on the wheel bearings because they still have to hold the wheel straight and they still have to hold it in place during the occasional road bumps, but they also have to constantly hold it in a tipped position with constant sideways force acting on it. Most bearings call for 180 foot pounds but some require up to 240 foot pounds.
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Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 AT 3:44 AM

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