what will happen if you don't do anything with a rear wheel bearing out. Can it damage the car in any way?What exactly is a rear wheel bearing?

 

its a bearing for a rear wheel... and if you dont change it, it will get worse.. and eventually just decintegrate itself

 

is it cheaper to just buy a new rim

 

New rim??? i thought we were talking about a bearing, if oyu dont replace it it will get worse in sound and handling, eventually it will go out and take the cv joint, axle and abs sensor, the day i replaced mine it took out the abs sensor

 

the word could possibly be "catastrophic failure." which would mean your wheel bearing would go out causing your wheel hub to supper heat and eventually, if you stop in time, seize the wheel. Just get the job done.

Here is a DIY if your interested (pictures don't work) - bearings are around $60/each via ECStuning.com
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/1528678.phtml

 

Also if you don't fix it it can cause the wheel to completly seperate from the car due to bearing failure. not a good thing

 

yeah, the wheel bearing has nothing to do with the rim...

if you leave it and let it get worse, it WILL eventually seize and your wheel will probably fall off at that point. just fix the damn thing, it isn't that expensive and as a bonus, your car won't sound like a bus anymore!

 

rear passanger side is going out on my (sort of ex) girlfriends car..

its annoying and needs to get fixed asap after reading this thread!

 

2nd that, my friend owns a car parts store thathas amechanic's shop in the same building and saw a car come in on a flatbed after a bearing failure... the fender wasalmost totally ripped off.

 

that's a good point, wheels don't just "fall off" when you're doing 70 on the highway. they take off everything in the general vicinity on their way out. I'd hate to think how much damage that would do to the rear quarter panel of your car, and possibly your fuel tank although that's unlikely.