Wheel Bearing Frustration

[04Orion]

I bought my G35x last October with 81xxx miles. Shortly after, I noticed an intermittent "mwaahp mwaaaaahpp mwaaaaahppp" when I would brake... front driver side wheel bearing was bad. Fixed it, solved the sound, no problem. In April, I noticed a similar noise from the passenger side, but it was accompanied by brake squeal. Thinking maybe this was just the brakes, I had a friend replace the brake shoes for me, which solved the noise for about a week, but then it came back. A trip to the mechanic, and the guy told me that he suspected the wheel bearing was going bad, but there was no movement when he attempted to rock it back and forth. He felt I could go another month or so (helped with my finance situation, I'm a college student); but the noise progressively worsened until I couldn't take it anymore. I replaced it near the end of June, which fixed the noise.

Fast forward to current day, I'm at 97xxx miles, and it's beginning to make that same "mwaahp mwaaahp mwaaahpp" when braking and turning (only right), which is spot on the sound it made the first time it went bad... but really, only getting 16k miles out of the new wheel bearing is EXTREMELY frustrating. I'm having my guy look at it when the car gets inspected in two weeks. Assuming it is the wheel bearing, WHY?

Is it my driving style?
Is it the shoddy roads? [I'm from Richmond, VA but currently living in Baltimore, MD, and the roads are HORRID here, I cringe driving around]
Is the wheel bearing they put on faulty?
Is something else wrong with the car that is causing the wheel bearing to wear prematurely?

I'm extremely frustrated, and worse, because I'm so strapped for cash right now, my parents have to foot the bill for the work... and they're pro-Toyota, so you can imagine the $#&%! I'm getting from them because I chose the Nissan/Infi route.

[joe603]

Sorry to hear about the problem you're having. I'm not a mechanic...but I'm sure there is another component causing the issue, or a combo. Improperly packed bearings could wear out fast...not sure if it was that or maybe a faulty replacement part??

[04Orion]

Just thought I'd duck in to say that it wasn't the wheel bearing at all (good call Joe). Apparently I had knocked an axle bolt loose. o_O

The only thing I can think is that a few weeks ago, I hit a particularly heinous pothole harder than I intended (misjudged it in the rain), and it make a god-awful sound, perhaps that was when it happened. I'll never know. But I'll say this, no more driving around all willy-nilly... I'm doing 10-15 under the speed limit until Bmore gets its s*** together and fixes this (neverrrr).

In fact, they're re-paving the road that leads to my neighborhood... a good thing, except they left a mass of asphalt surrounding a manhole in the turn lane that I use every day. It's like a speed bump, except with sheer sides. Ridiculous.

[joe603]

Glad you got it figured out / fixed! Yes, potholes do suck! Thanks for the update.

[TST SEE]

I am having the same issue with my 2004 g35 right now. Took it to the mechanics to have rotors and brakes change, no difference to eliminate the nose. thanks for the post I suspected it was wheel bearing.