Falsely reported on a tire thread that the GY Silent Armors began getting louder after about 40K miles. The more I observed the more suspicious I became of a mechanical issue (e.g. bearing), I so I took it to the stealership yesterday. They determined that the front left hub needed replacement (~$700). Fortunately for me I have an extended warranty.

My concern is what could have caused this, and how likely am I to experience the same again or on the right side? I have an '06 Lariat 4x4 that has never been off-roading (dirt road maybe) and driven very gently for 85k miles. Basically a road queen. The only thing I can guess is the problem I reported about the alignment I got immediately after installing my AS levelling kit two years ago; it left too much camber and a lot of premature wear on my expensive tires. Could that have contributed?

Having been a design engineer in the automtive bearing field for 7 years once upon a time, I do not think it would be a random failure. More likely was a bearing misalignment/side loading problem. Of course, there is always the possibility of incorrect intial installation which could have damaged the bearing.

 

I might have but who knows. I have an 04 Grand Cherokee and my hubs started making noise too after the winter.

I'm going to grab a set off the shelf over here and toss them in. I've never off roaded in the Jeep either and have taken very good care of it.

 

Besides the growling when turning either left or right, what other symptoms are related to wheel bearings, just curious cause the only time ive replaced wheel bearings is when they start to growl going down the road and turning slightly left or right.

Thanks!

 

In my case, no growling when turning. It sounded similar to tire whine except no variation in tone on different road surfaces and I started feeling a slight metallic type vibration thourgh the steering wheel. The pitch varied with speed. Was not all that bad, but getting loder over time.

 

Any bouncing or vibe coming from the suspected wheel?

 

Only the high speed (~70-75mph) vibration felt in the whole front end since the day I installed the Silent Armors. Nothing specific noted relative to the hub issue.

 

ok, just checking, i have a bouncing feeling right at 55 only on smooth roads from the driver front which there seems to be a TSB for but im too lazy to take it in.

 

Got it back yesterday. They replaced the LF hub assembly. Actual cost ended up slightly lower than orignally quoted, at $511. Extended warranty paid 100%. Noise is gone. Success! Still seems awfully early in its life to go out like that.

 

That's good news. I have some steering wheel vibration at about 70 mph and suspect balance/allignment (truck bought used with original tires). I do see a couple TSBs that address the issue, but I'm hoping all will be resolved after tires are replaced and front is alligned.