Will you help me confirm its a wheel bearing problem, please?

hello there,
i have read through all 6 pages of this forum and think i nailed it to a wheel bearing/hub? problem.
here is what happens:

When driving about 10-20 mi/h the sound is subtle.
When driving about 20-30mi/h i start to hear a noise in the front end of the car.
The noise sounds like metal grinding on metal, not screeching, the sound is more like a rotating part is not lubed, like something rough.
Sorry my english isn't too great, when describing noise.

As the speed of the car increases the noise increases.
When i make a slight turn towards the right on the highway the noise decreases, sometimes to the point of no noise.
But on slight turns towards the left, the noise comes back.

Also when making a U-turn or 90 degree turn from complete stop the car goes thump-thump-thump, its a sound and motion. It also happens when i turn while backing up from a complete stop.

Sorry for the super long post and thank you for having the patience to read all this, any help coments suggestion or respond is greatly appreciated.

P.S this is my first post and i am already asking for so much!

Generally, I raise a wheel off the ground with a jack then with one hand at the top of the tire and one at the bottom, I try to "wiggle" the tire and any loose movement greater than "just barely felt" is suspect.

also if you lift up the car then spin the whell you would probably hear something like the noise when you are driving, I sure it is your bearing just replace it and youshould be fine, also do it your self it will be a lot cheaper and it will only take like an hour or 2 so good luck and let us know, :thumbsup:

I was just wondering if you had fixed the problem because my 98 just started doing the same exact thing and it is really annoying on the freeway. Any info would be great

Since those posts, I've replaced the passenger side wheel hub on my '97. The noise was a light roaring sound from the front of the car and got louder with speed. Veering to the right stopped the noise and veering to the left made the noise worse. Because of the AWD feature, my wheel wouldn't turn with the wheel off the ground and you could barely feel any play in the wheel. The roaring noise was the main indicater.

Would anyone know the axel nut size. I have the same problem on my 97 and can't find the nut size. We bought the bearing and are getting ready to put it on ourselves. Thanks

I have a 98 Bravada that is exhibiting similar symptoms as in the first post. I'm going to replace the right front wheel bearing in my truck this weekend.

Anyone have any pointers or gotcha's?

Thanks in advance.

The bearing assembly is very simple to replace. Once we figured out how to use the puller tool it went very quickly. When we were turning the puller it would make a loud creaking noise. My boyfriend thought that meant it was about to break. WRONG. The noise it the bearing actually being pulled off the axel, and is a good noise. We did break a socket using the puller and had to get a larger, sturdier one. Also, note, when we finally pulled the bearing assembly off, the spindle also tends to push itself out. To get it back in correctly, my boyfriend put a sturdy piece of cardboard between it and his chest and used his body weight to push.

Good luck
Dee