This man has integrity! He's an extremely smart, talented, and very honest mechanic. Love your videos and I wish you and your family the best of the best! I'm a huge fan!

fernando linton

4y↑8

All the thumbs down are from slimy mechanics who don’t like when honest mechanics expose them.

NYer070

4y↑3

@fernando linton agreed

ahmed Fadl

4y↑4

100% agree with you....

elon musk

Are you him? Lol

NYer070

3y↑2

@elon musk haha no my good sir I'm not.

4 More Replies...

sm916ckness

5y↑54

Glad to see your back and making more videos. Have been watching you since I was 18 which was about 6 years ago. Thanks to your videos i learned how to work on cars and now do all repairs myself. All thanks to you keep up the great informative videos!

Comet

5y↑17

Awesome video as usual! Thanks for keeping it simple enough while still SHOWING the details. You're one of my favorite automotive channels because of this.

Anthony LaBarbera

4y↑17

Worth mentioning, especially if you live in an area prone to many or deep potholes in roads, check to make sure your brake backing plate(if any) are not damaged. I thought for a while I had a bad wheel bearing because I was hearing noise, turned out to be the backing plate was bent inward and rubbing on the rotor causing the noise, just bent back with pliers and was fine. Hope it helps

alma macias

48w↑1

I've watched many of your videos , i gotta say i just appreciate how detailed you are , you don't cut to the chase ,your honest on knowledge as a mechanic , you are what a mechanic should be and you really, help many people like myself ,to save money on these DIY jobs and get it done Right . I Thank you from the bottom of my heart and i totally Appreciate all you help. God Bless you and yours Always ..I Sincerely mean that !

BigDaddyJinx

4y↑24

One thing you didn't mention that I will mention now is also to do with the tires and not the bearing. Some tires have a tread and compound that will make for a lot of "road noise". I have all seasons and I get typical noise from driving because of the tread pattern. When I switch to my winter tires, the noise is much more pronounced. Big time. The sound goes away when I switch back to my all seasons.

My winter tires are brand new and they are in immaculate condition, by the way. So are my bearings.

So in some cases, the type of tire you have can lead to a humming/howling sound similar to what people would mistake as a bearing issue. Up here in Canada, the noise gets even more pronounced the colder it gets as the rubber stiffens.

So it may not always be a bad bearing or even a bad tire - it may also be just the type of tire and the weather as well. Something to be cognizant of. :)

John IROLL

2y↑2

Great video keep making them I just like to add that
I have seen a lot of rear tires go bad as set due to bad shocks in the back. they usually get bubles on the inside part of the tire,it is also called having chopped tires and they feel bumpy when you run your hands through them just like how he explained on the video.
Best thing to do is to replace the shocks wich are causing the tires to chop on the inside get new tires and a alignment at the end.

ILGuy2012

3y↑9

Rotating tires can also help determine whether it's a tire noise or bearing. If the noise moves after rotating the tires, it's a good indicator of tire noise.

Emmanuel gutierrez

2y↑16

Also, before thinking about replacing the bearing, there usually an option to buy a bearing and hub together for $50 more but much much easier DIY friendly install.

wholeNwon

Of course, a bad tire can also seem like an alignment or balance problem. I haven't tried it, but bet that you might be able to detect a significant difference in hub temps. on the same axle with a laser thermometer after driving the car, like checking for a dragging caliper.

Manuel Salvatierra

5y↑496

Warning! Just be careful running your hand along the tire with a buldge, sometimes the tire has exposed steel belt.

Comet

4y↑22

Good call. Nitrile gloves are so useful. Much better to tear a glove than your skin. I always wear gloves when I can, and not because I'm afraid of getting dirty. I still get dirty, but it let's me keep my tools cleaner and has saved my skin many times.

John Lopez

4y↑22

@Comet Plus the wife or GF will appreciate not having greasy hands and finger nails touching her .

Random ASMR

4y↑4

@John Lopez that's sweet :)

guyver 1

4y↑3

😟 why did you remind me.........

Joe Serrano

@John Lopez yes!! My gosh I have worked on so many cars and lost of from working without gloves...

27 More Replies...

Amin Esmaily

41w

Glad I ran into your video before taking my car to the mechanic. Found a massive crack/split on the inside of both front tires by doing the inspection you showed. Probably saved myself $300-400 and a whole day of my car at the mechanic. Thanks a bunch for making this video!

Charles McGehee

4y↑3

You always have great video's. I don't watch you enough! Thank you. You are a great teacher and obviously a skilled mechanic and troubleshooter.

John Nielsen

4y↑3

This guy knows what he is talking about. Noises can be difficult to deal with. Thanks for your tips.

Gregory Sattler

4y↑12

Great tip on the checking for a bad wheel bearing by feeling the vibration on a coil spring!

Craftbrewer

5y↑6

Like your videos and just want to share my experience with wheel bearings.
I had the noise and was quite sure it was the bearing. Did all the stuff you show several time, while driving a few thousand kms in the car. I was never capable of confirm the fault by jacking up the car and doing what you do. Didn’t do the hand on spring thing though. Finally drove it to the mechanic and fixed it with a new bearing.
Point - it’s not as easy to diagnose as I thought.

tiny_8yr old_aries

4y↑4

Here's a tip! If you think it's a bad tire switch it out with the spare or rotate them to see if the sound changes location. This is a free test to save everyone money! Just dont ride on the spare long term.

Jeff

4y↑2

He should also suggest that a bearing and tire noise sound a lot different. A choppy tire will have an inconsistant thump thump thump thump sound every time it hits the high/low spot that increases the faster you drive. A bad wheel bearing will have a very consistant hum that gets louder the faster you drive. Also can put the car on jackstands and spin each wheel can usually hear a bad bearing when you spin the wheel by hand, or feel it feeding back through the coil spring on the strut .

Vaquero 357

4y↑5

great video...I would add be very careful running your hands around the tires because sometimes metal or other sharp objects can be stuck in it and can cut you...also if the tire is really bad the steel belts can also stick out and cut or stab you....even with gloves on.

T K

5y↑4

Thanks for coming back dude. Every other mechanic on here is a shortcut dumbass. Followed your directions on a valve cover gasket replacement on my 2.7T and worked like a charm. These cars are insanely difficult to work on. No space and limited tools makes Teddy an angry boy, but I Got Er Done! 20 yr ownership & 145K mi and still kickin.

Chris Freemesser

5y↑3

Never heard of the spring trick before...gotta keep that in mind! I'm sure that there must be SOME tires made in China that aren't total junk but a few years back I bought a set of snow tires for my car (major name brand) and when they were delivered I saw they were made in China. Was tempted to send them back but didn't. Worst snow tires I ever owned...hard as a rock and lousy winter traction. Ended up finally replacing them with another brand (made in the US) and winter driving is much improved.

Ed Baker

3y↑6

Thank you. You did exactly what you said you would do. Just one quibble. Please elaborate on what you felt and found with the bad tire.

Paul Allerding

3y↑1

Awesome video. We have a noise that is similar to rubbing a wet finger around the rim of a glass bowl. The brake shoes will wear more on one edge as if they are crooked. Two shops worked on the brakes and could not fix it. After first shop, the disk was actually only being used for half its width because the other half was rusting. After all that we did it ourselves, replacing disks and shoes with top quality parts, still doing it. Will have to run the checks you describe here.

DROGE

3y↑3

What a great, detailed, professional video. Very helpful. Thanks!

Paul Haines

4y↑1

Nice! Well done. I have an all wheel drive highlander. If the tires start getting a little old that thing gets a ton of road noise. New tires installed and quiet as can be. I think I would say in my experience that an all wheel drive is even noisier when the tires start getting bad.

Miguel Quazar

3y↑2

Hands down, you have the best car repair/info/diagnosis videos on YouTube.

Lurker1979

5y↑4

I just had a issue like this. My friend and I where trying to figure out if it was a bearing or bad tires. In the end it was bearings. We never took the bearing issue for granted.

AussieBlokeGordo

3y↑1

Great video mate, I'm handy on the tools but my diagnosing skills are lacking.
This will help me out a lot good job👍

Arman

5y↑6

I'm glad your channel is doing good bro! Props for the quality content Joe Mantegna!

Jo Tu

5y↑4

One word... EXCELLENT! OK... Maybe more than one word, Very, very, very, informative and well thought out... especially the parts about the varios meanings of tire movements. Kudos (AGAIN) for this awesome & ORIGINAL content. S.Kilmer will probably hack this content soon and, knowing him, he will most likely make 10 separate, much longer, videos (of mostly chatter & blabber) while trying to get the same amount of VALUAble information across to his viewers that you efficiently packed into this one single video. DUDE, YOU ARE ON A ROLL (no pun intended). KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!!

Highly Polished Turd

5y↑1

If you suspect a bad wheel bearing, how about this for a test? Switch the wheels front and rear on the same side. If the noise and vibration switched ends, I'd call that a bad tire and/or wheel. I found a bent wheel in a car that way once.

Mike-ology

3y↑1

Thank you mate! You're a really good teacher. I have an idea that will definitely work and it includes promoting your videos too ;)

Brian Shanahan

Another great video. Well explained and good camera and audio! Thanks again sir!

Jeroen

4y↑1

I once bought a set of wheels with some cheap brand tires on it (Sunny). They sounded exactly like worn bearings. Had them replaced by Michelin and the sound went away. Also found out that XL rated (dual radial) tires make more sounds like that then regular radial tires.

Chavez Hobbies

4y↑24

Chingon! I've made the mistake of replacing parts that didn't fix my problem haha. A smart man with integrity is hard to find. Gracias for your videos.

Twobarpsi

4y↑1

Hey no cursing.

Chavez Hobbies

4y↑1

@Twobarpsi 😂😂

Twobarpsi

@Chavez Hobbies 😃

Pedro Serna

If you’re really suspect it’s your wheel bearing please listen to this guy he knows what he’s talking about, I was getting a humming noise and it turned out to be uneven inner wear on my front tires!

Hakapik

Excellent video! Very good tips on how to diagnose the problems. Thumbs up!!

Michael Love

3y↑1

Bro your video is simple and to the point..Gladly subscribed..keep up the hard work.

Justin van Oeveren

5y↑5

Hey! He's back. Looking forward to all the future videos. One of my favourite mechanics on Youtube.

Sakhie Mawisa

1y↑1

Im watching this while im having the same problem and was planning to do my bearings. Thanks man.

Chris Fennimore

5y↑2

Great tip! I had a chinese tire on my F250 go bad. Lots of tire hop just around 40mph. Tire looked fine, no bulges. Took the truck in to get all four wheels balanced, and this one tire could not be balanced. Replaced the one tire and all is good.

Renee S

Very informative, direct the point. Thank you!

starbrow7

5y↑8

Thank you for posting this! I'm been wondering my bearings are going out, now I know how to check them.

Loganbay

I had this issue with Michelin tires 5 year old with less than 20k on them. Apparently not driving and leaving the car sitting generated this issue. Who knew tires that were not worn out could make such loud humming noise. So after spending $900 for 4 new tires the sounds has gone away and the car is a pleasure to drive again. Thanks for confirming I am not the only one with this issue

It's The Sun

3y↑2

I have never heard of checking for vibration by touching the spring and spinning the tire, great video!!

PobLowe

4y↑1

Great useful info as usual. Thank you R&W!!

Streamlined

Wow, this was really helpful. This guy knows his stuff.

spelunkerd

5y↑92

When no test is perfect, you get multiple pathways to diagnosis. Even professionals sometimes have trouble making the correct diagnosis.

John Wade

4y↑6

Do the cheap one first.

mr diyguy123

@spelunkerd. great advice, as always from you.

hphoto

If the noise is from the rear wheels, double check the parking brake pads etc inside the discs.

greenspiraldragon

4y↑1

Be careful running your hands over the tires like that. If the cords are exposed your going to get poked. I had a bad wheel bearing it really was bad.

Maurice H

5y↑6

Thanks for the great info . Learning everyday . It’s wonderful .

Q.D Art

This happened to me. Turned out it was my shocks that were worn causing uneven tire wear to happen.

grandtheftauto1233

Nice job smashing the pinch weld that appeared intact before you jacked it up on it directly. Use a proper support to jack on a punch weld. There’s a reason the stock scissor jack has a slit to not smash the weld.

Crosbo78

Thanks for all your helpful tips. They have been very educational and have helped save me $$$ .

Vin Singh

4y↑5

That was me! :'(

I was still learning about cars, but I ended up spending $600 on a wheel bearing, and still had the dang sound. Turns out, there was something stuck on my BACK tire (sounded like it was coming from the front).

CanuckFixIt

4y↑1

You can't spin the wheels like that and hear bearing noise over the dragging brakes unless the bearing is real worn. Sometimes bearings go bad and make noise before you can feel the play in the unloaded wheel. Ideally, you want to find the bad bearing before replacement is crucial.

chris ryan

5y↑12

This was very helpful info. Your channel has taught me a lot.

Deborah

4y↑1

Very informative - love this channel! Thanks so much.

simply Incorrigible

3y↑2

As DIY'r, if you have a bad wheel bearing, go ahead and do the all the other stuff as well. Alignments cost $100 and need to be done every time you mess with those parts. Be proactive and knock it out all at once when everything is off anyways. Shocks, ball joints, tie rods, bushings, wheel bearings and brake job.

Don't end up spending $400 on 4 different alignments because you did one thing at a time.

Snowbag1998

Liked the very detailed information. Great job !

Terry Ann Gillette

Thanks! Very detailed and helpful!

E B

Informative and Just what I was looking for. Thanks

phi

43w

Much easier for me is to drive it for around ten minutes and then use laser thermo gun to measure the temperature of each wheel hub where the wheel bearing sit inside. The hotter side normally the one is bad due to friction. Mine is over ten degree different.

J W

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the video.

Not Insane

I had what I thought were bad bearings on a first generation Scion xB. I bought a pair of new bearings and spend an entire day replacing them myself. It didn't fix the sound at all. But while I had the tires off I noticed that their tread was really cupped. So I bought a new set of tires and that completely solve the problem. Meanwhile the rear bearings did actually go out on my Scion FR-S. The sound is completely different. When you got bad tires, it's a kind of growling warbling weird sound. But when it's bad bearings it's a hum. A nice solid steady hum.

What's kind of funny is we were standing next to a lady's car one day and as she and my wife talked I looked at her back tires, and you could see that her tires were cupped. I told her that it would make her car sound like the rear bearings were bad. Her response was, so that's what that sound is! I think the problem is with front-wheel drive cars the rear wheels eventually get cups because they last so long and aren't used to drive the car or anything. I think a simple solution would be to rotate your tires a little more regularly than I do.

BENJAMIN W CARTER

You saved my aaasss! I was shopping for new wheel hubs and looking for the procedure when your video popped up. Found that the inner liner had been bowed out due to a previous accident. It's on the right side and I only heard the noise turning left, classic wheel bearing, but the mind explosion you gave me solved the problem and a bunch of time and money. I appreciate the video!

Joseph Kessinger

47w

You did a great job in your explanation! Great Job!

L M

5y↑1

Love this guy and his videos !

J Sin

Great video! Gotta try this out tomorrow, and determine the problem.

Gilberto Leon

Careful when checking tires with your hands. If the tire thread is too thin it can expose wound wired that can harm your hands.

100mphClub

3y↑1

I just replaced BOTH rear bearing assemblies on my Odyssey after having multiple people ride in it and tell me it's one of the rear bearings. Turns out it wasn't. Next step is to rotate the tires front to back to see if the noise moves. Sigh. Also, last time I ran my hand over a tire like that, I got cut by a nail that was in the tire even though it wasn't deep enough to cause a leak. Be careful out there.

SteveVon7

Well Earned LIKE, Best explained and smartest way of approaching this issue ive seen yet!

Chico Vasquez

5y↑3

Every time I watch when your videos of your straight to the point no BSalways feel like I learned something from you and ty very much

C Enos

4y↑1

Thanks for making this video ! It was a great help :)

Abdullah Safdar

If ur still confused about the checking tyre surface part ( like me ) put a spare on ( and some other guys tyre ) the check

money talks

I learned this after changing rear bearing and spending 750 dollars. The problem was tires. Thanks for the video

DIZK

😂😂😂

Xinix Xagnix

4y↑8

Relaxed guy, no music, good talker, good craftsman, like watching your tube ;)

Y B

4y↑1

Kindly share more about bad tie rods and ball joints. I have an almost predictable vibration in the steering wheel when applying breaks at a certain rate, and no it's not warped disks because it was suggested and I swapped them. There is also overall vehicle vibration at certain speeds which can only be snapped out of by applying more gas or letting off gas. Can it be bad tie rods resonating?

capucine coget

4y↑1

Thank you for this video :D im trying to understand my car better and this video has been one of the most interesting one with easy to understand information

Fabulous Floyd Stanton

40w

What do you feel on the tire that indicates that it's bad?

mmm mm

4y↑2

Thanks for the great content - new sub! Please do a video on the top 5 minivans and another one on the top 5 cargo Van's. Appreciate it!

o0O-JD-O0o

The way I like to describe a bad wheel bearing is if you were in a vehicle that has big tread tires on it going down the road. That humming sound you would hear if Bigfoot was driving on the road with big tires. it also sounds like you know those slits along the side of the road they use to wake you up if you happen to fall asleep and start to veer off the road? in a way it can kind of sound like those as well. It just would not be quite as loud

Dqar

A very good video ! Thanks man ! This was very helpful!

Chi-Chi Ufo

41w

Thank you for this video. I have sent it to my mechanic, I just pray he comprehends all you said here.

ivailokrustev

4y↑1

Good to know on how to check it out. How about if I hear noise while driving yet when I turn the wheel to the left, the noise disappears and it sounds like normal?

Wasn't Me

5y↑4

Great tip! I wish I had a dollar for everytime the Stealership I worked at lied about this! A bad tire can cause all sorts of problem symptoms! EVEN GOOD NAME BRAND TIRES! Cheap tires are a bad choice. I always push my customers towards good tires!!!

Robert Wright

In most cases ware on the rear tires like that is because of lack of tire rotation.

EJ Tech and DIY

5y↑6

So informative ones again thanks for the great tips

Adam Fitzpatrick

My car has been making a grinding/rubbing sound almost like a slight shutter when slowing down with a decent amount of road noise. I replaced rotors and pads on all 4 tires, and it still makes this sound. I went from winter to all season tires and it’s been making this sound when I had my winters on indicating it’s not the tires. So not the brakes, not the tires, could it be a bearing or something else?

nero augustus

Another good indication it's a wheel bearing and not something else; when you go into a turn, if you turn towards the side the bad bearing is on, the noise goes away until you stop turning, and gets louder if you turn in the other direction. I.e. your right bearing would stop growling for the moment in a right hand turn. Left hand louder. It's because of the weight being put on/taken off of the wheel when you go into a turn or manoeuvre.

Simon Reeves

Your videos are awesome. Many thanks from your viewers here in the U.K.

Jump NYC

2y↑1

Also check for LOOSE LUGNUTS!

They do make the same sound, happens more often than one thinks ...

C K

Another way to test for noisy tires is to drive it on the road, if it makes noise then find a large flat area with grass drive it on the grass at the same speed usually around 20 miles an hour if the noise is gone then it's the tires, a friends jeep compass had this issue and that is how i diagnosed it

UA7Pyro

5y↑24

This is hilarious you made this video. I had 3 alignments done on my car. The car STILL PULLED. The shop swapped the front tires left to right, and the pull changed sides. Brand new BF Goodrich tires. Manufacturing defect made the tire conical. Causing a pull because of a misaligned belt. You couldn't see the defect because it's internal. Talk about MADDENING!

javahedz

5y↑5

David Hammett - Infuriating is right!! I was in the automotive/truck industry for 37 years, specializing in front end and suspensions. I found defective tires causing handling, vibration and noise issues SO often! Tires are a bad place to save money, and have recommended Michelin and Toyo tires for years. Even these can see an occasional failure, but they’re ROUND and easily balanced from day one.

Efren Saclolo

4y↑1

Bf Goodrich sucks on 195-65-15 size that go out of round after a while.And start making noise.

Julio Vasquez

Hopefully i can get a reply...i have this issue with my car pulling to the right. First thought is was the tires ( recently had bought new ones) and removed them, inspected them, and they looked perfect! But still a pull to the right with a wobble. Got an alignment, rotated the tires, and re-balanced. Now there is no wobble but still a pull to the right! I drive a 2004 acura tl. Someone plz help.

UA7Pyro

4y↑2

@Julio Vasquez try swapping your front tires left to right, if the pull changed sides, one of those is bad. In my case I think more than 1 of my tires is bad. I also have an 07 Acura TL. It's been aligned 3 times, and they said it's my tires. They have 11k miles on them. Apparently it's very common for manufacturers to sell "conical" tires. And if there is a large difference between sides, it causes the pull. Apparently Acura TL is super sensitive to this pull. It's dangerous, Because I constantly have to keep pressure on the wheel, to avoid other traffic. But this is the U.S. government regulations working. Psh.

Julio Vasquez

@UA7Pyro thanks will do! Yeh my tires only have 9k on them if that..and yes very dangerous im constantly doing the same holding it alittle to the left and as soon as i let go hard right! Nothing more perfect than finding this video and comment section today! Thanks @DavidHammett

1 More Replies...

Serge

Hi, do you know what can make scratching like metal noise that follows the wheel spin? Any suspects except of a wheel bearing and brake pads? It happens on low speeds (<25). 2017 GTI. VW dealer did not find anything wrong...

Graham Bate

4y↑7

gr8 video, sweet I saw it a couple months ago. around 2 years my wife drove her car with a flat and stuff the tyre up. I replaced with a second hand tyre. well it had wheel bearing noise, which got worst a few months ago. paid $150 for a new bearing hub online, I jacked the car up to find a thick bolt in the tyre with the head wear off. (the increase in noise for last month) So I went and replace the back tyres as the other was near the end of it life too. Drive home and no noise. now I struck with a new bearing.

Christian Olsson

5y↑1

Unlike some other bad mouthing Toyota fanboys on their channels this mechanic is spot on and he knows his stuff. Thumbs up!!

QuiverWS6

Slightly off topic, but is that a flat surface for placing the jack, or did you flatten the pinch weld?

spaceflight101

Good advice. However...some vehicles are like tin cans with road noise and the tire tread design gets amplified by the body. Case in point:

My wife drives a 2014 Jeep Patriot and I drive a 2016. Both are 4x4 Latitude models with the same drivetrain. Hers wasn't too noisy with the OEM tires or the Coopers that replaced them. Two years ago those Coopers were replaced with Coopers that have a different tread design. The howl maxes out around 40 mph! Pennsylvania inspects every year and if a wheel bearing or other component was defective it would fail inspection. It has not.
My Jeep came with Kumho tires that were noisy. The Coopers that replaced them are the same as the first replacements on my wife's car and are quiet. I am reluctant to replace them but eventually will have to.
Bearing issues are relatively straightforward...the character of the sound will change depending on speed and loading and the wheel will wobble if spun while off the ground. Plus, unless they've been submerged wheel bearings will rarely fail with less than 50,000 miles.