whats up guys!

who knows about ball bearings on the 2001 a6 2.7t?
Mine's making a very very low sound in the front right corner - sort of like a humming. I'm not sure I have to replace it just yet - the car's got 67k miles - but I want to make sure that its not affecting my tire wear, is it? I bought a new set of tires, but I haven't installed it yet, so I just wanted to do my research...

Also, how much should it cost to replace a ball bearing? How much is the part and how much should labor run me?

Thanks for your help,

 

no not really, the ball will be okey for a while. and maybe its not ball but the tire. many times people confuse it.

THE TEST:

its easy, roll down your windows, find a nice open space. Accelerate your car to like 30 MPH or a bit more, go into nuetral, turn off the engine and make some turns, like you going on the elipse turn, like just a bit to create side way g force.

when you turn left you checking right ball, if you turn right you listening for the left ball.

If hum increases you found it, if not its just wheels. good luck.

[IMG]local://upfiles/10191/D0BC26BB303F443F9EE44CBF4BBD3CF3.jpg[/IMG]

 

THANKS!!!!
I tried the test - no change in the sound. I have these cheap BFG tires from the previous owner - I think they make some noise (and they're way too hard for GT tires!).
But even if there IS something wrong with the ball, it should not affect tire wear, correct? Because I'm noticing that my right front tire wears too much on the outside edge. I'm planning to do the alignment when I put on the new tires, so I just wanted to make sure that I won't wear out the new tires faster than normal - I bought more expensive continentals, so I can't afford to waste them.

thanks again

 

no the ***** should not change the wear .

 

Bad wheel bearings wouldnt cause the problem you describe. That is caused by your camber being off.

 

just to confirm what everybody was saying - changed the tires back to continentals, hum's gone and I'm happy :-)