Wheel Bearing Woes
 

Last Thursday night on a trip home to see my folks (NC to KY), I sadly started hearing the familiar drone of a wheel bearing going out on my beloved BRZ.

Hoping it was the tires, I replaced all 4 with new Toyos.

The noise persisted.

I visited my dealership this past Monday who diagnosed it with a bad right wheel bearing. Since they didn't have the part, they ordered it.

I arrived yesterday only to have them tell me they replaced the left wheel bearing? I explained to them they diagnosed the right, not the left.

It didn't matter, they said they'd order the right one and I am back at the dealership today.

And the dealership is 200 miles round trip. Lastly I work I'm NC and was supposed to be back there 2 days ago.

Just sharing. Dealer is Joseph Subaru in Florence, KY.

Anyone else have similar wheel bearing issues?

There are no dealers closer to you?

- AdrianG

Hmm I've kinda felt the same thing but I've been thinking I might have knocked the wheels off balance when I painted them. Sure hope its not the bearings

How many miles on your car? Factory wheels or are you running an aggressive offset? Was the front or the rear wheel bearing?

What exactly does this sound like?

Ive had a noise coming from the front right that sounds like tire rubbing against inner fender but my wheels are oem and im only lowered with hotchkis springs (~1in), so I know its not tire rubbing.

Seems to mostly happen when engine breaking especially around corners.

I had one go at 10,000km, dealership replaced with little hassle, annoying that I phoned them 2 days prior to going in so they could order it, only to be told once I get there they didn't take my word for it and never ordered it.

my wheel bearing is out too. ive been hearing clicking sound comming form my left rear. however i am currntly exceeding the general warrentee period i wonder if this wheel bearing is cover under power train protection.

Rapidly see-saw the car from left to right: if you hear clicking then it's probably a wheel bearing. If when turning right, then your left wheel bearing and vice versa.


A really bad wheel bearing will sound like marbles in a jar and metallic scraping/hell/etc.

Good technique!

Also, a bad wheel bearing can sound like a growl (like a loud tire road noise).

@jwstaton, have you "whacked" any of your wheels against a curb .. ??

No curb whacks, or anything similar :)

No aggressive offsets - stock setup. Although I have an Injen CAI and Perrin exhaust I'm waiting to install when it's warmer out.

18,149 miles on the car at the time I noticed the noise.

There are closer dealers, but I wanted to go back where I purchased the car, seeing how the buying experience and previous warranty service was very good.

The sound was like a loud droning noise - which is why I was suspicious of the tires (or hoping). LOL. A "wha-wha-wha" sound that was audible inside and outside the cabin. There was also some feedback in the steering wheel and the car felt "heavy" when cornering.

It would subside when turning left/right, and get louder as I went straight.

Turns out the left and right wheel bearings were bad and they both were replaced under warranty after 3 trips to the dealership.

The mechanic seemed to recognize this as a fairly common problem and noted that the bearings in this car were easily damaged.

As I said, my frustration was mainly the lack of availability on parts but I suppose that could be a common for a vehicle that is fairly new to the market.

For the Toyos, I stayed with 215/45/17s to save some $$$. Now I will replace the stock rims with some 225/45/17s if they'll fit ;)

Apologies for my late reply as I was driving from KY to NC yesterday.

Thanks!

John

Good to hear you got it squared away .... :w00t:

This is the first wheel bearing issue on the 86 that I've heard of. Is it really as common as this tech seems to believe? I figured with all the wide wheels, stance, track whoring, and aggressive alignments abound we'd have heard of more failures by now. At least the search isn't turning up much...

More likely to get an axle failure from those than a wheel bearing failure...and there's a rich history of axle failures.

A bad wheel bearing usually is a growling sound.. You might be experiencing a half shaft CV issue with a clicking sound noise..
You can jack up your wheel and look for side to side play to be sure..