So was it a wheel bearing.. or something else howling??

[bbob203]

I had a howl in the front end of my mk4 jetta sounded like the front driver side wheel bearing and that side also had abnormal inner tire wear but the tie rod was fine as well as the ball joint indicating possible wheel bearing failure. The howl also changed on that side when I would turn the wheel. I ended up pulling both knuckles off and both bearings seem fine. I'm going to go ahead and replace them since I already have the knuckles off the car. MY question is.. If the howl is still present what should I look at next

[air-cooled or diesel]

tire rack has some real good prices for my mk's bilstiens and konis +tires i prefer Hrated and if you go over 80 or so mph you may want a Vrated.

[air-cooled or diesel]

what happened to my 1stpost ???it disappeared--
i had mentioned it sounds like a wheel bearing etc, i mean it got erased, --needing an alignment and checking cv joint/axles and other stuff
 

[TylerDurden]

MY question is.. If the howl is still present what should I look at next

The tire wear sounds like alignment, the howl sounds like bearings.

If the howl is still there after bearing replacement and line-up, I'd check the output flanges for excessive play.

[bbob203]

this post had about 4 posts censored in it....

[bbob203]

MY question is.. If the howl is still present what should I look at next

The tire wear sounds like alignment, the howl sounds like bearings.

If the howl is still there after bearing replacement and line-up, I'd check the output flanges for excessive play.

New bearing is in crossing my fingers. It didn't seem to be that bad actually felt fine but I replaced it anyway. Going with 4 new tires and an alignment.

[air-cooled or diesel]

but as i posted(and looks like it got    lost? ). i tend to swap out when i encounter certain problems. like on my mk2 swapping out 1 front axle costs apx$160+/-, x2 for other side, an axle runs ~$50 a side(complete axle), that is also x2. rears go about $50-70 a side. +tires, not including brakes(which is the next thing to look at; after the axles). every 4-6 yrs swap out all but shocks/struts. that is if you have those nicer brand struts. so that comes to apx~$400+ every 4-6yrs, and an alignment. --to be considered- if you have a good tire wear abnormally and you end up needing parts+alignment. for my mk3 it didnt end up costing me that much more, for a swap-out. (all4 corners).

[theman53]

this post had about 4 posts censored in it....

I never touched a thing

[ORCoaster]

I can vouch for the delete of my snide comment about a dog in the trunk as the howling he was hearing. 

[burn_your_money]

what happened to my 1stpost ???it disappeared--
i had mentioned it sounds like a wheel bearing etc, i mean it got erased, --needing an alignment and checking cv joint/axles and other stuff

My apologies, I was attempting to delete the other 2 posts however I got confused and clicked the wrong delete button. There was nothing wrong with your post, and I tried to get it back but as far as I can tell, it is impossible to do the way our forum is presently set up.

[air-cooled or diesel]

i had actually been amused by the nextdoor neighbors dog howling much; i didnt see anything too wrong with it, but anyway.
among other things; i did say consider swapping corners out(completely); check axles (cv joints) next; and then brakes, prob just wheel bearing. most wheel bearing noise happens below and at 35 mph. a real bad bearing, you never know, may make all kinds of sounds. i have a bonnet for grease gun, using good synthetic grease, can pack any bearing, squeeze out all 'stock grease' and put seals back on.

[TylerDurden]

Here's a bad wheel bearing off my 86... it has at least 50K miles on it, maybe 50K more from before I owned it. I know it's not original, there were race removal scars on the hub.

The ding is only about 3mm across and maybe .25mm deep.



Wonderfully loud.

Atypically, it got louder when loading the opposite side. Used a mech stethoscope on the knuckle to determine the correct location.