“Stuck” Replacing Wheel Bearing

[teezythakidd]

Hey all!
Let me begin by saying, I do write a lot, and I am no way an expert with Audi, or German cars at all. My comfort zone is with Honda/Acura lol.

I’m doing a front passenger wheel bearing on my buddy’s 08 A4. At first, I thought I bit off more than I can chew. But things became easier... and then they weren’t.
First I fought getting the triple square bolts out, then fought getting the bearing itself off (used a slide hammer to separate it from the hub — no problem). Had another buddy help get the bearing off and all the other parts in there, lol, so now we have a naked knuckle.

Bought a pre-pressed bearing from RockAuto for ~$110 and threw it on the car and noticed that it wasn’t spinning as freely as it should (yes, with the transmission in neutral — it is an automatic). Off the car, the bearing/hub spins without any friction or resistance.
Then I realized, we were only working with the one side of the car jacked up, with the opposite wheel down on the ground... I imagine — correct me please, if I’m wrong — both wheels need to be off in order for “one” wheel to spin freely... right? LOL (frustrated)

[teezythakidd]

UPDATE:

Secured everything back onto the car (brakes, tire, etc) and attempted to roll it and there's a very loud clicking sound. Could this actually be the new bearing, or is it the CV axle?

[wkhanna]

does the 'clicking' sound change dependent on the steering position of the front wheels?

iow, as you rotate the steering thru its range of motion while the wheel is spinning, does the clicking sound change?

[teezythakidd]

does the 'clicking' sound change dependent on the steering position of the front wheels?

iow, as you rotate the steering thru its range of motion while the wheel is spinning, does the clicking sound change?

Haven’t tested that. Will try to jack up both front wheels and try that. If it does/doesn’t, what would that indicate?

[wkhanna]

i am trying to determine if you have a bad bearing or a bad CV joint.
sound from a bad bearing would likely not change depending on the angle of the steering input.
CV joint sometimes will...

[teezythakidd]

Understood.
Here’s a pointer too, I noticed that when turning the wheel to access the triple square bolts and tighten the new ones onto the new bearing, there’s this disconcerting creaking sound. Could that be from the cv axle? It only happens when the new bearing is on. Otherwise, there’s no sound at all

[wkhanna]

was there any 'clicking' noise when the steering wheel was turned & the car moving at slow speed, like when parking?
this would indicate a bad CV.

sometimes, you only get the noise from a bad bearing or CV when suspension is loaded, but not when up on a lift or jackstands.....

[teezythakidd]

Car hasn’t moved in a while. It’s a buddy’s car so I going from what I could gather during repair, and he’s told me that the wheel would wobble like mad during driving. He doesn’t recall any creaking sounds during turning.

Me personally, when the old bearing was still on the car, turning the wheel to access the triple square bolts on the back of the bearing = no noise.
Since installing the bearing = noise

[wkhanna]

if the wheel was actually wobbling noticeably while driving, that describes one VERY bad & dangerous bearing.....

[teezythakidd]

Lol, right. The ball bearings on the inside all fell out once I pulled the hub off too. New bearing is on now though, finally. But I’m concerned about this noise and not sure how to figure out if the new bearing is a bad bearing (got it from RockAuto, it’s a Dorman part) or if the CV axle is bad now for some reason or was bad before and is noticeable now that the bearing isn’t bad

[wkhanna]

a bad CV will normally make a clicking sound at low speed like in parking lots, getting louder as the steering angle increases...

a bad bearing will normally make 'humming' sound with a pitch that rises as speed increases on the highway....