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What indicates a bad wheel bearing?

13873 Views 13 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  cra5h
Went riding this past weekend and noticed my handle bars had a little play in the them. Rolled the Foreman on it's side and my left front wheel had quite a bit of play in it. Could this be a bad wheel bearing?
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You didnt mention if you had the recall done on the tierod or ball joint (can't remember which it is) and the other possiblility is you nut at the bottom of your steering stem could be backing off (common problem) or the dreaded possiblilty of you bearings being out. I would check the nut, then tie rod and ball joints and then bearings.
Both recalls have already been taken care of. I've already checked the tie rod and will check the steering stem nut today. I'm not real sure about checking the ball joints. I also wanted to add that I have a little over 300 miles and only played in water a few times. It's mainly trail riding and a lil' mud here and there.

Thanks for the reply.
If your wheels have a good bit of wobble to them, the bearings are probably
bad. Jack it up & grab both sides of the wheel & give it a good shake.
Do what RR said but when your doing it look at your front axle where it goes into the hub, if it has any movement when you wobble the tire than you know it is the bearings.
Thanks guys, thats what I was wanting to know.
Another sign is you will hear a lot of unusual noise comin' from the front.
Kind of like a lot of poppin' & stuff. You will know. I can't really explain it
very well.
Does the popping sound like bad CV joints on a car? Mine is making a popping noise and I don't have a clue.
Whats this about a recall on the front steering?

Will honda send me a letter if it has not been done? Mine is an 05 also and I just had it in the shop with the whole clutch service bulletin and no mention of this.
QUOTE ("wdhigh":2ahkw3xv)
Whats this about a recall on the front steering?

Will honda send me a letter if it has not been done? Mine is an 05 also and I just had it in the shop with the whole clutch service bulletin and no mention of this.
I have not gotten anything in the mail yet, someone told me that most of them were done at the dealer and we wont get a letter.


Is this true?
QUOTE ("big_daddy_bigfoot":2qk0pkhu)
QUOTE ("wdhigh":2qk0pkhu)
Whats this about a recall on the front steering?

Will honda send me a letter if it has not been done? Mine is an 05 also and I just had it in the shop with the whole clutch service bulletin and no mention of this.
I have not gotten anything in the mail yet, someone told me that most of them were done at the dealer and we wont get a letter.


Is this true?[/quote]

The tire rod ends were recalled. on the first of the 2005s. Most were replaced in the dealership before they were sold. You can call you dealer to see if it was completeed or do a search on here. There was a list of affected VIN's posted by Honda Mechanic a while back.
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QUOTE ("06FOREMAN")
Does the popping sound like bad CV joints on a car? Mine is making a popping noise and I don't have a clue.
Can someone please tell me if this is the type sound I'll hear if my bearings are bad?
Usually they will squeek. Jack the wheel off the ground, if it woblles when you grab the top and bottom of it, the bearing may be bad.
take it off

hey you could just take off the wheel and the hub and look....

if you take off the hub and little ball bearings fall out, i am pretty sure that its bad. <happened to me!

if everything is intact then fill it with waterproof marine grease and put it back together....
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