A wheel hub, or wheel bearing, is a component that keeps your wheel attached to your vehicle while allowing the wheels to turn freely for safe steering. This is also vital to a vehicle’s anti-lock braking and traction control systems. The wheel hub bolts to the steering knuckle and allows for a brake rotor and wheel to be attached to it via studs and lug nuts. When your wheel hub goes bad, it can cause various issues that affect your steering and acceleration. Today, we will look at 4 signs of a bad wheel hub.
Noises Coming From Wheel At Moderate Speed
If you notice an unusual noise coming from your wheel at moderate speeds, a few things could be wrong. Your lugs could not be tight, your brakes may be dragging, or your wheel bearing may be bad. It is often hard to diagnose a noise at moderate speeds, but if you have inspected your brakes and checked your lug nuts, which are both good, you most likely have a bad wheel hub.
Metal On Metal Screeching At Low Speeds
A metal-on-metal screeching at low speeds is usually diagnosed as brake pads that need to be replaced. While this is the reason in many cases, if you know your brakes are new or don’t need to be replaced, you can usually narrow it down to your wheel hub. A wheel hub that has lost its grease and is wearing the bearings with no lubrication will produce a loud metal-on-metal sound at low speeds.
Shakes/Vibrations In Steering Wheel When Driving
If your wheel bearing has begun to wear down and metal-on-metal contact without enough grease to lubricate it properly, you will experience vibrations in your steering wheel. As the metal bearings start to wear down, there will be more play in the wheel bearing, causing them to vibrate.
Illuminated ABS Light
Lastly, if your Anti-Lock Brake Light or Traction Control Light illuminates and you are experiencing vibrations in your steering wheel, you most likely have a bad wheel bearing. In most modern cars, a wheel bearing that has gone bad will cause the system to trip. This will cause an ABS speed sensor code to be stored and your dash light to illuminate to indicate that you have an issue.
High-Quality Wheel Hubs From GSP North America
GSP offers some of the highest quality wheel hubs in the industry. GSP offers both wheel hub and knuckle hub assemblies.
Vulcanization Process - All Hub Assemblies go through a vacuum vulcanization process to enhance the structural integrity of the seal and rubber components.
Quality Control - In order to increase longevity and resist abrasion, GSP’s ball bearings are spaced precisely to the appropriate clearance for smooth rotation.
Durability & Performance - Hub bearings use high-quality rubber to optimize the seal’s performance and durability against high temperatures and weathering.
Premium Materials - To ensure a smooth surface, free from defects, burrs, and cracks, all bearing housings are manufactured with polyamides for added impact toughness and age resistance.
