Vibration/Noise.....Goes away when wheel is turned

[Forever Olds]

Hi All,

 

I have searched and searched and couldn't find this problem in any threads - found similar problems but not this one.

 

Since I bought my 96 Cutlass at the end of July I have had a vibration/noise that becomes very apparent above 30mph. There was an estimate in the glove box for a driver side wheel bearing that the previous owner never replaced. Given this seemed logical for the noise I went ahead and replaced it but the noise is still there. The car has new outer tie rod ends, new struts all the way around, new driver side ball joint and now a new driver side wheel bearing. After dealing with this for a few weeks I took the car to a local shop and they were convinced the problem is still the driver side wheel bearing and I must have torqued it on too tight. I thought this seemed logical so I changed it out with another new hub bearing paying close attention to how tight I go it.....problem is still there!

 

Now, the odd part and the thing that makes me think its not the bearing at all. The car desperately needs an alignment as the wheel is no where near straight when cruising down the road. However, when driving straight with the noise and vibration going strong, if the wheel gets turned just slightly to the right the noise and vibration completely goes away. When the car is going straight or to the left the problem is still there - to the right and its like a brand new car.

 

My theory, and I could be completely wrong, is the alignment could be the problem. When the previous owner had the tie rod ends done I am not sure she had it aligned properly. Is it possible that the tie rods are installed incorrectly causing the front wheels to 'fight' each other a bit when going straight? Would this cause the problem? Theory 2 is that is a half shaft gone bad and when slightly turned it aligns itself in such a manner as to make the problem go away. Both half shafts look good but I know that doesnt say much for their inner workings.

 

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help. This problem is going to kill me!

 

P.S. I have no problem just throwing in the towel and taking the car in but 15 years of car ownership has taught me most shops just take shots in the dark with these kind of problems....

 

Thanks!!!!

[Regal_GS_1989]

How bad does it vibrate, and what kind of noise is there? This may sound kinda dumb, but rotate the tires and try it again. If there is a change, then I would be checking the tires and possibly having them rebalanced, or replacing them. I have had vibrations, and sometimes different noises with bad tires in the past.

 

With the way the wheel hubs bolt onto the car, i don't see how it could be possible for over torquing it to cause that kind of vibration.

 

[IRONDOG442]

wheel bearing

 

/end thread

[xtremerevolution]

do you really not read? two bad brand new wheel bearings? sigh...

[IRONDOG442]

over tightened propellor shaft nut = premature failure- this happened to me and the car was driven 1/4 mile after new bearings were installed

 

EDITED BY MODERATOR

[slick]

How's your CV Joint boots look? Any play in the joints themselves?

[xtremerevolution]

he replaced the wheel hub twice, the second time paying close attention to how hard he was tightening the nut.

 

I replaced my passenger side wheel hub and torqued the living hell out of it with a breaker bar and 8,000 miles later its still perfectly fine.

 

EDITED BY MODERATOR

[slick]

Thread cleaned up.

 

It is very possible to have wheel bearings fail prematurely, or even bad out of the box. Replacing it twice with the symptoms still present generally will rule that out.

[95 vert]

IIRC if you have the noise and it is in the front and you turn "into" the noise and it goes away, wouldn't that be the side that needs replaced?

Could it be the right side hub?

[jman093]

Passenger side bearing. It stops making noise when you turn right because the cars weight comes off of the right side bearing and moves over to the left side. Less load = no noise.

[Galaxie500XL]

X2 on the passenger side wheel bearing...just went though this exact same scenario on my wife's Buick. It "moaned", until the wheel was turned, and returned when the wheel was straightened out. 6 weeks later, the car is still nice and quiet...

[AL]

I would recommend getting an alignment too after you get your wheel bearing fixed