Your mechanic says you want a wheel bearing, what’s a wheel bearing? I will turn this into as easy as easy to understand usingvideo and pictures, and my own interpretation of what a wheel bearing is, what its job is, where it’s located and the noises it makes when it’s damaged.
Wheel bearings with race
Wheel bearings are usually pressed into a hub like this
Just what is a wheel bearing?
A wheel bearing is exactly what it sounds like, it’s a bearing for the wheel. What’s a bearing you ask? It’s a bunch of steel balls held together from a metal ring, which is named a race. There are various styles bearings but are all very similar and all carry out the same job, they help something spin with very little friction like a wheel, turbine, or a carnival ride.
A wheel bearing on a car is a collection of ball bearings that keep the wheel and ride on the metal shaft which is called an axle shaft. The wheel bearing is located in the hub, the hub is located at the centre of your wheel, when you are considering a wheel on a car, the hub is located in which the lug bolts come from the wheel. The lug bolts are pressed into the hub, and the wheel bearing is pressed to the hub as well, from the back side of the hub.
Bearing with race
Ball bearings
What does a wheel bearing do?
Wheel bearings are use on all kinds of vehicles from bicycles to aircraft and they all perform the same job, they allow the wheel to spin freely. Based on the application, most wheel bearings are hardened steel and may withstand lots of abuse. A wheel bearings worst 2 enemies are heat and water. Heat caused by absence of lubrication can destroy a wheel bearing, and water that penetrates the sealed bearing will destroy the wheel bearing as well.
Most wheel bearings manufactured today are sealed bearings, they come from the factory pressed together as an assembly, front race, bearing set, center race, bearing set and outer race with seals for both front and rear race. Bearings are sealed in thewater and elements, and debris by a non penetrable seal that also seals in high temperature wheel bearing grease. When the seal is broken or damaged, the wheel bearing will fail and initiate making noise.