wheel bearings
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2014
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wheel bearings hey guys, so i have a 2000 camaro z28. for a while now its been making a roaring/rumbling sound in the rear end. ive been thinking its wheel bearings just havent gotten around to checking. ive read alot of other posts on here about how if it is the stock axle ill need a repair bearing or possibly a new axle shaft. if so what all am i looking at, as well where is a good place to buy these parts. autozone is pretty useful but at the same time arent top quility parts sometimes. as well is there a writeup or does anyone have experience in replacing these that can email me or something and kinda help me through the process. from what ive read it does look like it is too hard to do but always good to have a second opinion. Thanks!
On The Tree
Joined: Dec 2014
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From: Mesa, AZ
For starters put you car on jack stands and check the differential fill plug, see if it's full by sticking your finger in, you should be able to just touch the oil. Wheel bearings will usually make a howling noise as speed goes up, and change in sound/frequency if you turn one way or another. A carrier bearing will usually make a loud rumbling noise based on wheel speed, and a pinion bearing might get really noisy when coasting with your foot off the gas generally. Wheel bearings usually go out with high mileage, while pinion bearings or carrier bearings are usually a result of a leaking pinion seal causing the fluid to get low and burning up the bearings after a while. If you see fluid leaking around the pinion part of your differential chances are the bearing might be worn, causing the seal to leak, check for movement of the pinion shaft. Also if you car has aftermarket "gears" chances are they might make a steady whine at speeds between 40-60mph, but be quiet at all other speeds, this is caused by poor install or cheap quality ring and pinion and is not a real issue but rather an annoyance. 
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2014
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Car is completely stock. ill have to do that either tomorrow after work of this weekend. If it helps you any the roaring or howling at about 70-80 goes in and out in a pretty constant pattern. i dont know how else to explain it. but its definitely heavier on the right side leading me to think its wheel bearings.
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
Only way to tell is to pull it apart and inspect. Wheel bearings can be had a million places online, and good used axles can be found here, ebay, and facebook for sale groups.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2014
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do you know of a good site for wheel bearings? and if i pull any of it apart is there any certain seals i need to buy? on kind of a strict budget right now and its my daily. i wont be driving it for about 3 weeks but id prefer not to have it down that entire time.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2014
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i understand that. i picked up some national repair wheel bearings so im giving that a shot tomorrow. then atleast i can change those because im sure they can use replacement. im almost positive its the right wheel bearing but id rather pull it apart and be sure. we will see tomorrow after i tear her down.
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those are 'axle saver' bearings,one of the worst things to ever use. there are many threads showing the reason not to use them. here's a recent one.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/gears-axl...lt-c-clip.html
I'm sure others will post up to DON'T USE THEM.
because axle saver bearings are longer then the proper bearings,they cause the axles to be shifted outward. upon re-assembly of the axles into the rear end,the c-clips have to be hammered into the axle grooves. the problem occurs when the axles have to be pulled in the future and there's no way to get the clips out. and they will have to be pulled again because the reason for using the axle saver bearings is to avoid the expense of replacing the worn axles the first time,which will wear and become noisy very quickly because you're using new bearings on worn axles.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/gears-axl...lt-c-clip.html
I'm sure others will post up to DON'T USE THEM.
because axle saver bearings are longer then the proper bearings,they cause the axles to be shifted outward. upon re-assembly of the axles into the rear end,the c-clips have to be hammered into the axle grooves. the problem occurs when the axles have to be pulled in the future and there's no way to get the clips out. and they will have to be pulled again because the reason for using the axle saver bearings is to avoid the expense of replacing the worn axles the first time,which will wear and become noisy very quickly because you're using new bearings on worn axles.
Last edited by FirstYrLS1Z; Dec 5, 2015 at 09:10 AM.
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Teching In
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 48
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a little update: yesterday i returned the repair bearings and picked up normal bearings and wheel seals. pulled the axles and bearings. now im just waiting for the axles to come in (should be in tuesday from rockauto). found the right side(as i said i heard it was alot louder from that side) had some decent pitting. the left side didnt have it as bad as the right but if you looked close enough that the left side wasnt too far behind. atleast itll be a good feeling to have 2 brand new axle shafts in there and some new bearings.