Weird Noises from Wheels
 

Hello all, I have a 2000 Chevy Blazer 4dr 4x4. When I am driving I have whirling sounds from my wheels, front I believe. It stops when I stop my car, but when the car is moving the sounds start up again. Any ideas?? Could it be bad hub bearings or something with the 4x4?? Might I need to lube my bearing on my front wheels? My brakes and rotors are just fine, passed inspection 4 months ago, only put about 10 miles on it a day, just from work and back. Then odd days might put about 20 or so miles on it. Other than that its not used very much. Low miles too, only 107,700 miles on it. One last question, how long does the stock fuel pump last?? I heard around 120,000 to 130,000 miles. Thanks.

Sounds like a bad wheel bearing. Does the noise change when you steer in any particular direction?

The front wheel bearing assemblies are sealed with no means of lubricating them.

I have this same thing. Sounds like a whirring/swishing coming from the tires. The dealership I bought it from said it was the brakes rubbing because they were brand new (but this was a load of bullsh*t considering it's been a year and a half, pads are at 60% or so now, and it's still happening). Also, whenever I lightly press my brakes, they squeak like hell.

Not to steal your thread/topic, but along with this I get an odd smell coming from my tires (only the ones that whir) after using my brakes a lot in town. This is the same smell as when I had a seized caliper and smoke coming from my rear tire.
Could this be another problem with the calipers? Like, maybe my front ones are somewhat seizing just not enough to cause smoke?

mine does this to!! drives me crazy, also a 2000 4x4

I have done my wheel/hub bearing enough on my chevys, to describe mine always as a "growl".

The original one on my s-10 (4.3) I just jacked up the truck, and the wheel had some side to side play you could feel the bearing going. I went to drive to get the part back home, and when I pulled the assembly the bearings came pouring out..LOL..

So check that wheel for play, and more than likely its that bearing assembly, pretty common.

The wheel/hib bearing is just on the front set of wheels, correct? Because its a 4x4. How much, ballpark, is it to replace the wheel/hub bearings in the front?? I have had this done about 3 or 4 years ago, it was something like $400 from my mechanic. Sound right? Thanks.

Would I need just new Wheel bearings? only $25 each or do I need the whole Hub assembly?? $174.00/each. And I would guess I would need either 2 wheel beaings--$50 or 2 hub assemblies--$348. Can I just put in new Wheel bearings, $50, and that will solve my problem?? How much roughly is labor to install new wheel bearings on the front wheels?? Thanks.

$400 sounds a little high for one wheel, but that depends on the shops rates. The part will likely be $200 from a shop with their markup.

The bearings in the front of a 4wd are unitized hub/bearing assemblies. You cannot replace just the bearings yourself.

All of you that are looking to do this, try to resist the urge to buy the cheapest components available. You get what you pay for with these assemblies. I recommend Timken or SKF assemblies. I have always had good luck with them.

Any ideas what this could be if it's not the bearings?

So, I cannot just replace the wheel bearing itself on both wheels, I would need to replace the whole hub assembly, correct?? I mean the hub assembly is still good, just the bearinig is shot. Would make sense to just replace the bearing itself. Should be about $200 for both wheels, since its $50 in parts, plus labor, maybe even less than $200. Thanks.

What part of the quote below didn't you follow?
BigEffingHammer, if your problem isn't identical to the OPs, please be courteous and try not to hijack his thread. Thanks! If you get ideas from what he's going through and fix your problem, great!

Kyle is right, and I never had to do both bearing/assemblies at once in the front of my trucks, its usually one of the other. Pretty simple job, one you break her loose.

BTW.. Using Rockauto for reference you see that you have four choices:

Cheapo - what you use to sell the car 49

Raybestos Pro Grade which is okay if oyu want to roll the dice a little bit 69

Moog National - respected OEM 119 National Bearings are good bearings

SKF 129 You may say WHO!!!

SKF is a top of line precision bearing maker. Surprised they are in this business. They have great rep
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Pay no attn to the stupid youtube vids.. for some reason they dont want you to know some basic things. Like how tight things are or can be

1. Break the hub nut loose with wheel on the ground
- Tighten it to about 100 ft lbs raised then torque to 180 wheel on ground
1a If spline is stuck, run nut out to end to protect axle and rap sharply with heavy hammer

2. Removing hub from spindle {knuckle}. It might come right out but learn term 'slide hammer' if it doesnt

You may need to draw the new hub in with the three bolts a turn or two at a time, each.

mine only makes this noise around 35-40 mph, no more, no less