Wheel Bearing Noise after Replacement?

[antz1308]

Gday, question for all the wheel and bearing experts out there, hoping someone can shed some light!

Ive had a bit of a rumble/grinding bearing noise coming from the right wheel. So today i replaced both sides with new bearings, seals and cones.

Inner bearing of the noisey wheel had a bit of rust which could have been causing the noise, however no major pitting etc. Outter bearing and left hand side was all fine. Cones were fine but still replaced them anyway. Stub axel seemed fine, no roughness etc.

Jacked up the trailer and spun the wheel after they were replaced and still have the noise on the same side even after new bearings. Left side is all okay though. Any idea what could be causing it? Thought i packed the bearings pretty well, so dont think it is that... Just a tinny trailer, no brakes etc.

Thanks guys

PS: yes they are the correct bearings, the cones were set in fine and bearings were packed before install. Also gave it a run for about 20km up hills and highway. Hubs were just warm. And by just i mean slightly warmer than cold lol

Edited September 26, 2015 by Anthony_13

[Fab1]

Gday, question for all the wheel and bearing experts out there, hoping someone can shed some light!

Ive had a bit of a rumble/grinding bearing noise coming from the right wheel. So today i replaced both sides with new bearings, seals and cones.

Inner bearing of the noisey wheel had a bit of rust which could have been causing the noise, however no major pitting etc. Outter bearing and left hand side was all fine. Cones were fine but still replaced them anyway. Stub axel seemed fine, no roughness etc.

Jacked up the trailer and spun the wheel after they were replaced and still have the noise on the same side even after new bearings. Left side is all okay though. Any idea what could be causing it? Thought i packed the bearings pretty well, so dont think it is that... Just a tinny trailer, no brakes etc.

Thanks guys

PS: yes they are the correct bearings, the cones were set in fine and bearings were packed before install. Also gave it a run for about 20km up hills and highway. Hubs were just warm. And by just i mean slightly warmer than cold lol

You don't mention anything about tyres.Rumbling noise can be caused by cupped tyres amongst other things and easily mistaken for bearing failure.What's the age of the tyres?condition? To check for tyre cupping lightly run your hand over the the surface of the tread in both directions.You will feel your hand snag if your tyres are cupped on the raised tread block.A cupped tyre has tread blocks that alternate between high and low giving you that distinctive rumble as you go down the road.

Did you pack grease into the bearing rollers and not simply smear grease onto the outside?

Sounds like you've done the right things in regards to replacing the bearings.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

[antz1308]

You don't mention anything about tyres.Rumbling noise can be caused by cupped tyres amongst other things and easily mistaken for bearing failure.What's the age of the tyres?condition? To check for tyre cupping lightly run your hand over the the surface of the tread in both directions.You will feel your hand snag if your tyres are cupped on the raised tread block.A cupped tyre has tread blocks that alternate between high and low giving you that distinctive rumble as you go down the road.

Did you pack grease into the bearing rollers and not simply smear grease onto the outside?

Sounds like you've done the right things in regards to replacing the bearings.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Cheers mate, tyres are 2 years old, about 90% tread left. The right bearing sounded noisy so i changed both. But even after the change, I noticed the noise when i had the trailer jacked up. The wheel was completely off the ground. So cupping shouldnt be an issue. Unless the rim itself is buckled to some degree. But would this cause a rumbling noise if its jacked up..

Yeah packed the grease in till it was bubbling out of the top..

Its doing my head in.. cant seem to work out what it could be. Rather be thinking about fishing that this!

[The Incredible Hull]

I guess all you can do is narrow down the problem. Try taking the wheel off and spin the hub and see if the noise still exists.

Let us know how you go.

[Guest 4myson]

Has it got disc brakes or are they just hubs ?? Another thing to check for is to make sure the split pin that secures the hub nut is trimmed & bent correctly . Had a customer a while back that complained to a similar problem after he replaced his own bearings & after removing the bearing cover found that he forget to bend the split pin correctly & it was rubbing on the inside of the grease cap !

[Nolongeramember]

Something somewhere is probably touching a part of the wheel or hub area that shouldn't be as it's turning. You might need to go over each area while turning until you find the cause.

[Blood Knot]

Im a bit with Roylo on this, if the cup (the internally tapered ring) which is the outer running surface of the bearing has been correctly seated in its housing and the cone (the inner tapered ring complete with rollers and cage) has been pulled up square on the stub axle and the castleated nut adjusted correctly (plus grease packed as described) then you may have something rubbing, hard to blame tyre probs if the wheel was making a noise when you spun it whilst it was jacked up off the ground. When you say the stub axle was"fine" was there no damage to it (bent etc).

Cheers Blood Knot

[big Neil]

You could try swapping the wheel and tyre over (from the other side) and see if it still makes the noise. This may help with the elimination process. Good luck with it. Neil

[Fab1]

Cheers mate, tyres are 2 years old, about 90% tread left. The right bearing sounded noisy so i changed both. But even after the change, I noticed the noise when i had the trailer jacked up. The wheel was completely off the ground. So cupping shouldnt be an issue. Unless the rim itself is buckled to some degree. But would this cause a rumbling noise if its jacked up..

Yeah packed the grease in till it was bubbling out of the top..

Its doing my head in.. cant seem to work out what it could be. Rather be thinking about fishing that this!

Hi mate,I have read your post again and you can disregard the cupping as it will only make noise when driven,not free wheeling on axle stands.

I was thinking last night about the split pin rubbing on the inside of the cap/buddy but I had ruled it out as you normally get a squeeling/scraping sound as I originally read your post as a rumble not a rumble/grinding.

As 4myson has pointed out check the legs on the split pin are folded over and trimmed correctly and don't rub in the cap/buddy causing the noise.You will know when you pull the cap/buddy of as there's usually a scratch/groove where it has rubbed.If this isn't the issue the only other thing I can think of is its possible that the hubs bore is out of round but I have only seen it on braked trailers and cars where the brakes have been dragging causing the hubs to overheat or over torquing the wheel nuts causing warpage of rotors/hubs.

The other thing that will ruin new bearings is slipping with the drift when installing the races and gouging them.

Somewhere in these posts by the raiders is your issue and its hard to give advice without seeing it for ourselves.

Good luck and let us know what it was.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Fab1

[antz1308]

Ill try my best to reply to everyone in this post. Firstly trailer has no brakes, just hubs.

I had a look over it today, popped off the bearing buddy and checked to see if split pin was rubbing somewhere. It wasnt, noise was still present even with the split pin removed.

I went to take the wheel off to check it with just the hub on and sure enough the lugs were done up excessively tight to the point where 3 snapped when taking them off. Either they were tightened with a rattle gun at the service just past, or they have started seizing up on there own. Or unless something is wrong with the axle or something. Last had the wheels off about a year ago. But barely done any work over the year. Anyway moving on.

To me the axle looks fine, like new, not bent or anything. The existing hub also looked fine, cones were set correctly and new bearings were packed.

Pulled my spare hub and wheel out that i keep on the trailer (yet to be used), repacked those bearings and chucked it on the axle to see how that went. Tightened it all up, set the bearings then backed it off as you do. Sure enough the noise is still there. It may be slightly quieter, but its hard to tell if its any better than it was with the original hub. But there is still an evident noise there that cant be heard on the left side. So that rules out any issues with bearings or cones since its noisy with both the trailer hub and spare.

I guess that only leaves it down to the axle, which to me looked fine, correct? Or is there something i have missed! Got to get it sorted before the long weekend. With some luck, ill be on the water all 3 days haha.

Cheers guys, appreciate the help.

[spaners]

Swap complete hubs left to right and right to left and see if the fault changes sides.If every thing is as you say then you might have a bearing cone spinning in the hub or spinning on the axle..cant be anything else really.

[Fab1]

Mate,check the stub axles again for any hint of pitting or scoring on the bearing running services.They should be nice shinny and perfectly smooth with no signs of discolouration such as a bluefish colour indicating some overheating in the past that can possibly bond the stub axle if bad enough.

If you have acces to a caliper of some sort such as a vernier or dial gauge I'd be checking for the thickness of the stub and bending compared to the other side.

[spaners]

Sorry just re read your last post and I noticed you put your spare hub and bearings on and still had the same fault.In that case then it has to be a worn axle and one of the bearings is slipping.Try sliding your old inner and outer races back onto the axle to make sure they have a tight fit and not just flopping around.

[Nolongeramember]

Sorry just re read your last post and I noticed you put your spare hub and bearings on and still had the same fault.In that case then it has to be a worn axle and one of the bearings is slipping.Try sliding your old inner and outer races back onto the axle to make sure they have a tight fit and not just flopping around.

I'm going to say this also or the washer under the nut is touching somewhere it shouldn't be.

I put a touch of grease on the wheel nut threads to stop them seizing. They undo smooth as every time.

[Yarraone]

noise and heat after repleacemnt is a problem and one cause could be over adjustment... tighten the nut to firm with a twitch... then back it off till there is a free wheeling hub... if nothing rubbing and no wobble with wheel on should be ok

[truK]

I have an old trailer that has quite a bit of pitting on one of the stub axles due to the previous owner neglecting to care for the wheel bearings.

With new wheel bearings and adjustment to ensure no free play - I get a little bit of noise on the pitted side. Given there is no free play in the bearing, im not too worried about the noise and I repack the bearings regularly and have not noted any excess wear or loosening of free play during that time.

Perhaps have another look at your stub axle like one of the other fellas has suggested?

Cheers

[antz1308]

Just a bit of an update for everyone. I took the bearings out a couple weekends ago and started from scratch again.

Checked the axle and it looked fine, no pitting or wear that i could see or feel. The trailer is about just on 2 years old, but to be honest it has done bugger all work, so i wouldn't expect it to be damaged or worn already, especially since i havent had a bearing failure before and even the bearing that came out wasn't too bad really.

I've cleaned and repacked the bearings, checked the new cones were seated correctly again and fitted them all up. Theres no play in the wheel or anything rubbing anywhere, however the noise is still there. Its not as bad as it was but it is louder than the other side.

I towed it up to westernport (about 160km) hubs were just warm afterwards, not hot or anything. Just how they have always been after a longish trip. Same thing again after the trip home. I guess I'll just keep checking them throughout the season and if i start noticing signs of wear or a bit of heat then ill be back to the drawing board.

Thank for all the help though guys.