Can a little loose wheel bearing do this?

Question

When I jacked up my car and shook the wheel, the wheel bearing shook a little. Can that little shaking make noises like grinding noise when braking and turning? And will it sound all the time or sometimes. I checked the cv joint, boot, brakes, and brake pads and those are ok

Answer 1

A definite YES - if the bearing is loose enough to feel free play it almost certainty will make a growling sound which will be louder when turning to one side than the other or straight. At this point i will differ from bigboy in that in my experience it will more likely be the bearing on the side to which you are turning on most front wheel drive cars with unit double roller or double ball bearings. It is very important to check both bearings using a mechanics stethoscope with the wheels turning to positively identify the failed bearing in most cases.  However in your case the fact that you can feel actual bearing free play positively identifies the bad bearing and adds to the importance of getting it replaced right away because once loose enough to feel free play a bearing can fail catastrophically causing damage to other components of the suspension and possibly a vehicle crash without further warning!    

Answer 2

yes, the noise is from it flexing and rubbing the edges of the brake pads, on some cars a bad bearing can cause you to lose a tire replace it asap.

Answer 3

Yes. A bad wheel bearing will give you a growling noise while turning. We diagnose them by driving 30-40 mph and weaving from left to right. If the noise gets louder as you are turning left it is usually the right front wheel bearing. If it is louder turning to the right it is the left wheel bearing.