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I believe I have a wheel bearing wearing.

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Old March 27th, 2019, 4:45 PM
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cant really free spin a drive wheel
Old March 27th, 2019, 7:31 PM
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turning left loads the right bearing...turning right loads the left bearing. best way imo is to spin the wheel and listen with a mechanics stethoscope on the back of the bearing. drive wheels are tested by putting the vehicle on a hoist or jack stands and driving the wheels at 50mph...the stethoscope will not lie.

Irish...I've seen new bearing out of the box be bad....but they were the cheapest you could buy. if this van is a keeper... buy a bearing with more than one year warranty
Old March 27th, 2019, 9:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Irish_alley
cant really free spin a drive wheel
You can if you jack up both sides and it's an open diff
Old March 27th, 2019, 9:29 PM
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thinking on a FWD, would this still be possible for the front wheel bearing?
Old March 28th, 2019, 12:08 AM
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FWD have a differential too, so I don't see why the wheels wouldn't spin freely, especially in neutral gear. The only difference with FWD is that the transmission and axle are combined into one transaxle.

The reason you shouldn't tow a vehicle on it's drive wheels, is because doing so turns both wheels in the same direction, which turns the transmission output. Doing that for long periods of time can build up heat and without the engine running you can't get rid of it. If you just spin one wheel by hand, then the other wheel spins in the opposite direction, and the transmission output does not turn.

Last edited by mountainmanjoe; March 28th, 2019 at 12:22 AM.
Old March 29th, 2019, 8:24 AM
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Originally Posted by mountainmanjoe
FWD have a differential too, so I don't see why the wheels wouldn't spin freely, especially in neutral gear. The only difference with FWD is that the transmission and axle are combined into one transaxle.

The reason you shouldn't tow a vehicle on it's drive wheels, is because doing so turns both wheels in the same direction, which turns the transmission output. Doing that for long periods of time can build up heat and without the engine running you can't get rid of it. If you just spin one wheel by hand, then the other wheel spins in the opposite direction, and the transmission output does not turn.
Lots of road tow agencies have been sued over this which is why the tilting tow truck bed units are so popular these days.
Old March 29th, 2019, 3:27 PM
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Yes. Or wheel dollies.




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