Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) wheel bearing

[cmills]

When I was checking the ball joints today I noticed that the right front wheel makes a little bit of noise when turning it, it does not seem to be loose at all. I was wondering could it be the wheel bearing starting to go, even though it is still tight? And if it is should I go ahead and replace it or run it for a while until it gets a little loose? I know that when I replaced my left one it had a lot of slop in it. This is the original bearing and it does have 290,000 miles on it, so I can understand if it is getting tired.

 

[HBarlow]

Wow, the answer is yes, by all means, replace the sealed bearing hub unit asap. If you have a failure on the highway it could be catastrophic and will certainly be expensive. I replaced both front hub assemblies at around 215k miles on each of my two previous Rams when they began to show a little looseness. They were not making any strange noises. I think your hub is in the beginning stages of failure.

 

[cmills]

thats what I figured, I'll have to drive it about another 400 miles then I'll change it Friday

thanks,
Cory

 

[foolkiller]

could just be your brakes making a little noise..... ? but with that many miles who knows. hate to see you spend the dough/do the work without knowing for sure.



does it rotate smoothly, easily like there's no binding as it rotates?



again, with those miles, it's a good idea possibly anyway.

 

[cmills]

I'm sure its not the brakes, I just figured it would start to get loose when it went bad, of course when the left side went bad it might have been making noise at first also but I just never noticed it. The noise this makes is only noticeable when the truck is not running and when I am turning it by hand, I suppose this is just starting to go bad and would eventually get loose like the other one did if left go long enough, but I think I'll play it safe like Harvey said and go ahead and change it, I have to drive it another 350 - 400 miles then I'll try and change it Friday