wheel bearings bad ???

[2fst4u]

i bought a 86 omni that i will be using as a circle track car and was told that the wheel bearings are bad but i am not sure that they both are bad is there a way to check this ??? and how hard are they to change ???

[afsautoworx]

Jack up the front of the car and make sure its secured, grab the tire at 12 o clock and 6 o clock and wiggle it back and forth with some good strength. If you feel any play in the bearing at all, its bad. If you dont have the axles in the car and have the axle nut tight, the bearing will have play in it. To change the bearings youll have to take the knuckle off and press new ones in, if u dont have a shop press take the knuckles and new bearings to a machine shop. Where its a circle track car, even if these bearings dont have play id replace em. Racing is hard on wheel bearings.

[allmotor]

I used minivan RF spindle on my charger circle track car because is was a stronger bearing. besides the wiggle test, drive the car and rock the wheel back and forth. if you hear a bearing noise when turning, this will also determine a bad bearing.

[detobias]

bearing noise: usually 'growls' when you turn one way (try moderate speeds like 20-30 mph corners), then goes away when you turn the other - unless both are bad

[CV joint bad? - clicks or clunks at full wheel lock at low speeds - try a parking lot]

got growl? jack up as afsautoworx suggests and figure out which;

I will admit they growl and complain for many, many miles; handling will suffer, but if its a winter beater, then growl away !

on my GLH cars, I just planned to replace them once a year, along with shocks/struts, brakes, and tires: drive hard = eat parts