Recently I hit a curb with my right rear during an ice storm. It bent the wheel up pretty bad. I figured the alignment was ruined so I planned on getting it aligned. While driving I could hear a nice big 4x4 knobby tire sound above 40mph. I figured it was the alignment so I put my coilovers on the car since I was going to get it aligned anyway. Changing over to the coilovers ruled out any chances of a bent strut. So I got the car aligned and the sound is still there. My alignment guy is good and always takes his time to go over the car with me when we are doing my track day alignments. (Robi needs to venture closer!) What is a good way to tell if I have a bent hub or destroyed a wheel bearing. The car doesnt vibrate or the wheel is not visibly wobbly it's just noisy. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

jeff

 

I hit a wall once and shattered the wheel on my C5. The hub and spindle were fine, but the bearings were screwed. No apparent play, but turning them felt like they were full of grit. That's where I'd look next...

 

If you are hearing a humming noise coming from the area you hit, then id be willing to bet that you need to replace the bearing. The hub/ spindle is a little tougher to tell if its bent . If you RECENTLY crashed, then you might be able to see if there are any stress marks in the metal from bending. Another way to tell is to see if you can get the rear alignment within specs...if you cant get both sides to match up, then its most likely bent. Good luck.

 

I've got a wheel bearing/hub assembly on the way. I'm sure now that its the bearing. The noise goes away during right hand sweepers where the right rear is unweighted a bit.

jeff

 

Any DIY guide on wheel bearing replacement? I'd recently hit a curb and am experiencing the humming noise as well. My tires were untouched and the rims were scratched up. I didn't think i hit the curb that hard.

 

It's really easy. I did my right rear in about 20 minutes. Wheel comes off, caliper, rotor, 4 bolts on the back of the hub and its out. The bearing assembly is about $174 from the stealership. I used a 3/8 drive ratchet with extension and 14mm socket to remove the 4 bolts holding the assembly in place and my 3/8 drive torque wrench to torque them back to proper spec.

jeff

 

I also had a mishap and jumped a median. I bent three rims, bent the left rear upper control arm, and the left rear lower control arm, although I think it's the trailing arm and the dealer just got the name wrong. Anyway, all the competent Evo shops are far so I took it to the stealership. I finally got it back today and my alignment is a bit strange. Here are the specs:

Camber: Left front -2.6 / Right front -2.0
Toe: Left front 0.01 / Right front 0.00

Camber Left rear -1.4 / Left rear -1.3
Toe: Left rear 0.08 / Right rear 0.11

Thrust angle is -0.01

The car drives fine...no noises when I turn or anything. It does feel a bit loose as if something is not fully tightened in the right front...something like thump.

What do you guys think?