Is my wheel bearing shot?

[DJW]

Hi guys, I have searched old threads on wheel bearings and wheel bearing replacement (great input), but my question is what steps can I take to ensure, in fact, the wheel bearing is the problem before replacing?? I hear very loud road noise in the right, rear section of the car which gets louder as I go faster. Through my search I saw a post which said worn engine mounts also produce loud road noise as well; anyone experience this? If in fact it is the wheel bearing, what is the usual cost to replace? Is an engine mount replacemet costly? I will point out the car has 55k on it and I recently put 2k on with a road trip. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[nick49]

I would jack up the rear of the car and remove the wheels, then pry the brake pads away from the rotors to ensure they are not dragging and with the wheel or even your spare on the hub, turn it and you may be able to hear or feel if the bearing is bad. I don't know why but Porsche uses a very complex and expensive double ball bearing assembly that is sealed and must be correctly sequentially assembled in the carriers to prevent damage upon installation. They seem to fail often compared to cheap, reliable, and forgiving tapered cup and cone roller bearings that everyone else in the world has used successfully for over 50 years.

If you change it yourself I think you need to pull the aluminum carrier and use a press to remove and install it. I did it a couple of years ago when I was going to put Big Red Turbo brakes on my C2, then realized it was mechanically a bad idea and in reality a down grade rather than an up grade.

Good Luck

[DJW]

Nick49, thanks a lot. I really appreciate your response. I will take a look and see if I find anything.