Bad WHeel Bearing, Will my wheel fall off??
 

I was wondering if anyone ever heard of a wheel actually falling off due to a bad wheel bearing. The reason I asked is I am driving with one and I will not have money to repair it till the 1st of next year. The front end seems solid, just has a god awful humming/Vibration. My mom said its always been there. So I am guessing so far the car has been driving for over 1 year with this humming. It hasn't gotten too much worse. Anyone here ever drove a long while on a bad bearing?

I'm not sure if I ever had a bad wheel bearing, but I did have a bad CV joint in my 1980 Audi 100 for awhile. I sold it when I couldn't turn the radio up loud enough to mask out the noise. The new owner (who worked in my town) never got the CV joint fixed and drove it another year without the axel falling off(but what a racket that car made!!!). With that said, if you promise not to sue me, I can safely say that your wheel will not fall off your car until January 2004(and probably longer).

If the bearing is just loose, probably won't hurt it. I'm betting my dad drove on one for about 100,000 miles on a bad bearing because he thought nothing was wrong. I finally replaced the bearing at about 225,000 miles on that same 89 Bonny.

my right front wheel bearing went bad about a month ago. i drove it for like 3 weeks like that. when i changed it, it still had no play . i would constantly jack up that corner and shake down the wheel and see if you have any play in it. i havent seen one come off yet, but i have seen them screw up a caliper, pads, rotor , and a half shaft. also if it gets play in it, your alignment will be off and could wear the tire out prematurely.
it only took me like15 mins to replace mine,i got NAPA's second line, they wanted $267 for their top line and 128 for the second line.

YES!well, at least mine did :shock: Na, I dunno that's what mechanics and bootleggers will have U to believe......

I really think its a bearing, but sometimes I wonder, like last night I drove it a while and the vibration was killer, however when I put my hand down as close to the bearing as I could there was no heat. I was told that bad bearing generate alot of heat. Who knows. I have untill feb or march till I get one, so it better hold up. I'm not extremely worried about it, its been bad for a year with no problems. I just have people telling me that my wheels are gonna fall off.

Are you sure you're talking about a bad wheel bearing. I've had tires that started to go bad and produced a humming sound. Also if the wheels aren't balanced they will create a vibration that you are experiencing. I guess you must have been told by some reliable source that you have a bad wheel bearing awhile ago. But I must have missed that thread. In any case, I wouldn't worry about your wheels falling off. Just check the lug nuts next weekend so I can rest easier.

Actually I never had it checked. I guessed by what the BC members told me a while ago. I thought it was the tires, then I rotated them and the sound is still there. I still am thinking CV. But bearing is what everyone said it sounds like. This vibration is loud and extremely annoying and increases with speed. The only thing that puzzles me is the front end seems firm yet and theres no heat being generated in the bearing area.