What Are The Signs.....

[CanadaCraig]

.....of a wheel bearing going bad???

[one of the front ones - in this case - so my Lexus dealer suspects]

Thanks.

Craig!! :)

[VMF]

you will hear a noise while you drive. you might experience small vibrations about this

[99lsguy]

you will hear a noise while you drive. you might experience small vibrations about this

Yes, this includes the possibliity of wander/pull in the steering. I imagine it would be a constant "whirrr....." sound or similar.

From the 99 LS manual - the procedure for checking is:

1) Use dial indicator near center of axle hub and check for backlash,

tolerance is .05mm maximum play

2) using the dial indicator, check for "wobble" along the outside edge

of the axle hub - again, maximum play is .05mm

(Axle hub is what the brake disc attaches to and has the bolts/thread to hold the wheels on...)

To fix:

You have to remove the steering knuckle (the bearing is inside it),

remove the axle hub from the knucke,

remove oil seal, and then press out the bearing from the knuckle

Probably 2 hours labor + bearing.......... ;)

[98 LS]

Just wondering ............

Is there a typical milage (100k, 200k) that the front wheel bearings start to show signs of wear and should be replaced? :whistles:

98

[VMF]

never heard about that, mine got 130 and still going strong, the only bearings i had to change were the timing belt pulleys bearings and waterpump bearing

[SW03ES]

Like most other things that are wear related it really depends on how you drive...

[jbarhorst2]

Do you have a noise?? Does it get worse on a left or a right turn and then disappear when you turn the other way??

[JPI]

I never enjoy relacing the wheel bearings on the Ls400...No fun at all.

JPI

[tansupplyman]

Lexus people love to change everything--

Why do you think the wheel bearings are bad--mine have 164k and I think they will go 100k more----surely they will make a noise before they LOCK up and leave me 1000 miles from nowhere.

Take all that stuff with a 'grain of salt'(nacl) !!! You will hear it(them) when you need to.

keep your 401k in your pocket; good for 'later' years.

[jzz30]

changed mine just because i was redoing the whole front suspension i did it last (after all the bushings and things were changed) the car became smoother and quieter,...noticably. and its even easier to spin the wheel when the front tires are off the ground, meaning less stress to the drive train and better milage(slightly)