Wheel bearing?

[Nylander]

I slid into a curb a week ago and bent the front right lower control arm. I had an alignment shop replace it with the OEM part and align the car. It drives straight and feels normal, but there is a vibration and hum/whine that appears above 50mph. You can feel it through the pedals as well as hear it if the windows are rolled up on the freeway, otherwise wind noise overpowers it. I initially thought it was tire noise from the toe angle being off, but it persisted after the shop aligned it.

Both the front and rear wheels hit the curb, but the brunt of the impact was the front of the car. It caused aesthetic damage to the wheels, but they hold air and don't SEEM bent. The way that the noise very gradually comes on and stays smooth leads me to think that the hub/bearing is the issue.

Does this sound familiar or reasonable to anyone?

I have a little less than three weeks before I have to drive across the country. If the bearing is the issue, will it typically get worse or is the damage already done? Is there a good way to check and see if the bearing is the culprit?

[Ultramaroon]

The vibration is from a bent wheel. The hum is the wheel bearing which failed due to running tweaked on a bent spindle. With that noise comes a great deal of heat. The whole thing could fail catastrophically at any moment.

Take it very seriously and have it all checked ASAP.

[humfrz]

Yep, before you head across country, I'd suggest you have it checked out.

I did a similar stunt with my wife's car, on a snow covered street. I was showing her how the ESC could "save" the car.....

My "stunt" ended up slamming her car, sideways, into a curb ..... both the front and rear wheels hitting the curb. mrs humfrz was NOT impressed .....

I had the right lower control arm replaced ..... that helped.

Had the right front strut replaced ..... that helped more.

Had the right front rim and wheel bearing replaced ...... getting there.

Finally, had the right rear bearing replaced.


mrs humfrz won't let me drive her car anymore .....



humfrz

[Ultramaroon]

Laughing (but sorry) . So wonderfully human.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Yep, before you head across country, I'd suggest you have it checked out.

I did a similar stunt with my wife's car, on a snow covered street. I was showing her how the ESC could "save" the car.....

My "stunt" ended up slamming her car, sideways, into a curb ..... both the front and rear wheels hitting the curb. mrs humfrz was NOT impressed .....

I had the right lower control arm replaced ..... that helped.

Had the right front strut replaced ..... that helped more.

Had the right front rim and wheel bearing replaced ...... getting there.

Finally, had the right rear bearing replaced.


mrs humfrz won't let me drive her car anymore .....



humfrz

Is it sad that I can picture every single word that was said on the subject?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Is it sad that I can picture every single word that was said on the subject?

Me too! I think it's just guys & gals & marriage.

[Nylander]

Thanks, guys. I ordered the front hub/wheel bearing. Hopefully it gets here by this weekend and I can see if that fixes it or if I should keep throwing parts at it.

[Nylander]

Just as a follow up, I got the hub and swapped it out and that fixed all the problems with noise and vibrations. Easy day.

[Nylander]

Ok, that did indeed fix the problem, but I noticed another underlying issue. When going >50mph and making a left turn, there is a slight vibration/hum that sounds like a subdued rumble strip coming from the passenger rear. That is the side that hit the curb.

Driving straight and turning right is smooth and quiet. The harder the turn, the louder the noise. To me, all signs pointed at the wheel bearing, so I replaced that and the symptoms persisted.

Next I rotated the wheels left to right and there was no change. I've crawled under the car and I am confident that there is no rubbing with the tires at any point. I had the shop inspect it and align it and the only thing they found was the lower control arm, which they replaced.

Is there any chance the alignment being off in the rear could be the cause? I've driven nearly 3,000 miles since the curb and there appears to be no unusual tire wear at any of the four corners, nor has the noise worsened any.

Any thoughts?

TL;DR - Sounds like wheel bearing, isn't. Sounds like tires/wheels, isn't.

[Ultramaroon]

Does it sound/feel the same under power versus clutch disengaged, coasting through the turn?

[Nylander]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Does it sound/feel the same under power versus clutch disengaged, coasting through the turn?

It is the same regardless of under power, coasting in gear and coasting in neutral.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Nylander

It is the same regardless of under power, coasting in gear and coasting in neutral.

I asked because I thought there might be a remote possibility of damage to the diff or a half shaft. Sounds like those are fine.

Reading through the thread again, it is unclear to me whether or not you had the alignment verified after you replaced all the components. Are you certain something isn't still tweaked in the right rear?

One of my previous cars had a mild toe in on the left rear which would eventually scallop the tire. It didn't get noisy until after the tire developed the wear pattern. After it was worn, I only noticed it when the wheel was loaded in a turn.

[Nylander]

Yeah, I'm wondering if they did a shoddy alignment. They didn't even notice the wheel bearing and that was obvious.

So after having a few other people in the car with me, I'm pretty sure the noise is coming from the front passenger side and not the rear after all.

The noise is really not that noticeable and you can feel it more than you can hear it.

After a bit more driving, I found that you CAN hear it faintly driving straight, but it's louder when you turn left. It does fade away completely on right turns. It's also periodic and directly proportional to speed. It is a slow/low pitch "wub wub wub."

The noise is unaffected by braking as well and the wheel seems to turn freely when jacked up.

To me, all signs point to the wheel bearing being bad, but I replaced it already with the Subaru OEM part. I don't know anymore. I am only in the country for another week or so and then I'll be in Japan for three years, so I have to sell the car and I'd hate to sell it with some lingering, if only minor, issue.

[Thorpedo]

Originally Posted by Nylander

It is the same regardless of under power, coasting in gear and coasting in neutral.

Had the EXACT issue you are describing. Changed the wheel bearing and it was gone.