1996 cavalier growl

[ratmn218]

just replace brakes and rotors,but i still have a low growling noise when on the brakes,or when turning left without using brakes.wheel bearings dont seem sloppy or get hot,not clunking so dont think cv joint.I NEED HELP.

[tipemup]

if you can jack up the car and crawl under with a long metal extension or something of that sort, have someone in the car and slowly bring the car up to speed. take the extension and place it on head bolt near the hub assembly, hold the other end up to your ear and listen for any ticking noises, should be nice and quite, i am a mechanic and have diagonsised many wheel bearings this way. if one side seems ok check the other side. but all in all if you can hear the noise and it goes away when turning on way and worse the other it is more then likely a wheel bearing. good luck.

[Macgyver55]

Most likely the wheel bearing. Not always the case, but often I find that if it makes noise turning left its the right bearing and vise versa. Its fairly common on these cars. I've owned three of them for my daughters over the years and had to put at least one bearing in each of them

[ratmn218]

thanks guys i guess thats my next step , the way i see it its not that hard ,take wheel off ,caliper off, lock nut then 3 flange bolts?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Sounds like the right front wheel bearing. Gets louder turning to the left goes away turning to the right.

The install is just that simple! I do recommend torqueing the axle nut after the new bearing is installed. Failure to do this can run the new bearing!! I also take the time to torque the hub to knuckle bolts as well.

[ratmn218]

anyone know torqe settings for axle nut and mounting bolts?

[Jeremy airjer W]

185 ft/lb seems to ring a bell. The local library should have free access to ALLDATA which will have all the info you will need. Sometimes the directions in the box will also have specs for you.