Is it safe driving with bad wheel bearings?

Last updated on June 28th, 2023 at 05:16 pm

Is it safe driving with bad wheel bearings? If you having wheel bearing issues? Well, this is a common problem for most car owners, and it does not matter with kind of car you drive. You will every once in a while notice wheel bearing noise which is a symptom of a bad wheel bearing, and in such cases you will need to carry out a wheel bearing noise diagnosis yourself or by an experienced mechanic.

This article will discuss wheel bearing noise diagnosis and symptoms of a bad wheel bearing.

We will also the safety aspect of driving with a bad wheel bearing. So stay tuned, but feel free to skip over to the section that applies to your specific need. So let’s get started. Read also Wheel Bearing Noise Diagnosis for Rear & Front Wheel

Is it safe driving with bad wheel bearings?

So is it safe to drive with bad wheel bearings? It is definitely not safe to drive for too long or weeks with a bad wheel bearing because it can cause a sudden stop to the wheels which will endanger you, and other drivers’ life. This is so because, a damaged wheel bearing puts a lot of strain on the hub, CV joint, and transmission.

How Long Can You Drive On a Bad Wheel Bearing?

A bad wheel bearing can pose so many annoying symptoms and off cause, these signs to require immediate repair or replacement action before things get worst. However, there are times when you might experience bad wheel bearing symptoms at a very lonely location of which you may need to keep driving to get to a more convenient place.

In this situation, you can drive up to 1600 kilometres without causing real damage to the wheels.

While driving with a bad wheel bearing, you need to as much as you can slow down while looking for the next convenient place to fix the problem to reduce damage on wheels and to prevent an accident.

The function of Wheel Bearing

A car wheel bearing is the skeletal part of the wheel which helps the tire roll smoothly.

A bad or missing wheel bearing will cause friction on a wheel which will make it wobble and shake seriously. So the wheel bearings work hand in hand with the car tires, hub, and wheel to able your drive to smoothly.

When a wheel bearing is bad it will always show signs and symptoms of a bad wheel bearing and we will soon look those, but before that lets take look at what causes a wheel bearing to go bad.

What Causes a Wheel Bearing to go bad?

A bad wheel bearing can as a result of so many factors, but one most common one has accumulated dirt on the housing of the bearing. Though wheel bearings are safely housed and sealed with an oil sealer, there is are high chances for the sealers to go bad thereby letting dirt and debris to get in. so when dirt gets in, it causes wear and tear of the wheel bearing shorting the duration the wheel bearing would stay on if maintained. So to avoid this, we recommend you perform regular maintenance and servicing on your car.

Other causes of bad wheel bearing are:

Overheating due to excessive friction.
Imbalanced tires
Bad /Uneven Roads
Insufficient lubricate
Staying to it lifespan

So let now look at the next topic which is “How Long Can You Drive On A Bad Wheel Bearing?”

Is it safe to drive with a bad wheel bearing

11 Symptoms Of A Worn Hub Bearing ( bad wheel bearing sound)

#1 –Popping, Clicking, Snapping Sound

When you notice a clicking and popping and snapping sound on your vehicle, it means that your car CV joint is damaged or bad. Mind you this could apply that there is an excessive bearing endplay which is due to poor clamping. This noise is most often experience turning in a sharp corner or bend.

#2 Humming Noises

Next sound to also look out for that should sign of bad wheel bearing is a humming noise. There are countless noises that will come out from a vehicle that poses a reason for worry, so it’s important to understand them in order to avoid misdiagnosis and miss up.

So when you hear a humming noise when on motion, then it is could be as a result of wheel bearing or CV joint and sometimes it due to bad tires.

#3 –Knocking and Clunking

When you get a knocking and clunking noise, it may be that there is an extreme level of play in the CV-joints or U-joints.

This noise may also come up to indicate an excessive backlash with differential gears.

You will usually hear this kind of noise when changing directions from either drive to reverse or from reverse to drive and from accelerating to a coast.

#4 – Rumbling, or growling

Usually, these type of noises is connected with electrical, tire or drivetrain components. If it is related to the bearings, you often hear the vibration or noise while driving straight, and increases when turning the wheel just slightly to either direction. Generally, the opposite side of the noise is the side that is defective.

#5 – Wobble and/or wheel vibrations

While these symptoms will usually be connected with worn tires, suspension or wheel parts, it might be a severe chassis arrangement too. In relevance the bearing or wheel hub, it usually suggests the shortage of clamp or bearing with a mechanical injury that’s severe. It might conjointly happen if lug whacky isn’t tightened properly. Although, some wheel vibrations will really be caused by a bent automotive frame. that might qualify as associate machine body repair, that sometimes prices around $200 to $300

#6 – Shimmy, shudder, or vibration at constant speeds

These symptoms are usually connected with broken or worn suspension parts, however, might be the tires that are out-of-round or now not balanced. It’s not sometimes indicative of bearing or hub injury.

#7 – Abnormal aspect actuation once applying brakes

This symptom is usually the sign of a defective equalizer or calliper, however, might even be signs of worn rotors or brakes. Although a severe immovableness with reference to bearings may lead to the associate excessive quantity of runout, that may lead to brakes actuation or rhythmical. the foremost common reason is crooked rotors caused by the calliper not properly retracting.

#8 – Uneven brake pad or rotor wear

This is usually a symbol of a foul equalizer and/or brake calliper, however, isn’t associated with the bearing. Excessive runout is often caused by broken or worn bearings inflicting severe immovableness, that may lead to associate uneven quantity of damage on the rotor and/or constraint. Commonly, this can be thanks to a crooked rotor from the calliper not properly retracting.

#9 – Uneven or abnormal tire wear

Many things will result in abnormal tire wear, with the foremost common being broken or worn suspension parts, improper inflation, arrangement or tire choice. Meanwhile, excessive immovableness or bearing wear may lead to abnormal tire wear, it’s usually caused by different modes of failure.

#10 – ABS failure,

This may be either external or internal of the hub or bearing assembly

With extreme things, the external and internal sensors are able to become broken thanks to the excessive movement associated with excessive end-play. Therefore, suggesting the loss or lack of bearing clamp. Normally, this can be the results of extreme mechanical injury or slice. Also, with styles that have sensors mounted on the external part, device injury might be the results of stones, corrosion, or numerous different hazards.

#11 – Grinding whereas in motion

Usually, this can mean mechanical injury already exists among the wheel-end system. with reference to bearings, it might mean you have got an absence of integrity, like raceway or roller damages. This noise is often detected whereas shifting or turning.

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Jeffery Ekweghi

Hi dear, my name is Jeffery Ekweghi, and I am a certified mechanic and autobody parts technician. I created this site to share my expertise and experience with car lovers looking to resolve their car-related issues. I am certified in private cars and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. I have worked as a mechanic since 2015 and have experience in vehicle brands like Subaru, Jeep, Toyota, TATA, BMW, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Kia, TVs, and Others; however, I primarily specialize in Toyota vehicles.