My 1996 Q is sick again, this time I have a wobble at low speeds that I strongly suspect is a bearing in the rear wheel assembly going out. When I initially got the car and had some other repairs done, the mechanic advised me that the wheel bearing was looming, and, well, I guess it's moved on from simply looming. The problem is, I have a fairly long distance (350 mile) drive planned for this Saturday, in addition to the typical time to work on the car and cash flow concerns.

First, I would like opinions on whether or not it is wise to wait until after that trip to fix it. It will be far more convenient for me to do so after my journey since I wont have anything in my schedule preventing me from working on my car all day or waiting at a shop, but I also don't want important bits to fail on the highway.

Second, if it is indeed a bearing going out as I strongly suspect, I'll need to replace that bearing at a minimum. My understanding is that replacing a bearing on its own requires a press which I don't have access to. Is there a way for a home gamer with a socket set to reasonably replace a bearing? Can I replace the whole hub instead? Depending on labor costs, I could come out ahead doing it myself even if I have to purchase more/more expensive parts.

Third, I understand that some vehicles have an inner and an outer bearing, and some have just one "maintenance free" bearing. Do G50 Q45s have an inner and outer bearing or just a single bearing? If they have two bearings, is there any way to positively identify which is going out before I go and order the parts?

Don't take the trip. If it has been making noise then wobble is what they do when they are coming apart, you cannot get wobble in a wheel bearing without it being VERY close to 100% strand city there. The wobble comes from end stage wearing to break up the balls in pieces; no bearing survives long at all once they get there, provided of course it IS the bearing wobbling.

Ask the car's opinion, the only one that matters and they do what they will do regardless of owner desires or cash on hand.

FYI, all 'single' wheel bearings are actually double bearing inside the unit, they just have a common race on one side. You MUST at the very least have a method to torque the outer axle nut to about 200 lbs. or whatever the OEM spec is there, can't do that with a simple socket set. Not torquing to the spec number WILL fail the bearing quick and possibly in minutes, the most common mistake made there. If you replace the entire hub then no press needed to install bearing in hub.

Sounds like this is a bit beyond my skillset to repair. I'll take it to a mechanic on Monday and Uber around this week.

One of the mechanics I called for an estimate passed because he didn't want to work on an oddball with limited sources for parts. He said that the bearing usually damages the hub as it fails and he didn't want to take the car apart and have it sit in his shop waiting for a new hub to ship from Infiniti. I'm taking it to a different local mechanic who's willing to take that risk. Crossing my fingers hoping that the hub isn't damaged.

Wobble was not caused by the bearing. The bearing is going out but is not wobbling or making scary noises according to the mechanic. The wobble and noise I felt and heard was one of my tires separating, so $150 problem instead of $300 or $600 problem. And, when I do tackle the bearing, I can get the assistance of a mechanic friend and his toolkit since I can make my 350 mile journey.

mac, yeah seems like bad tires very long distances contribute highly to bearing failure , I myself am a sticklerand try to have as near perfect balance , I'll check tires for distortion like your separation - catch it early never had wheel bearings go bad in 22 years 750 k mi , all parts of course are not equal with possibly some kind of mfr. defect ? I believe amc49 is correct in that bearing -STILL - now a known issue over 300mi trip ,especially carrying ANY load is / probably a very BAD idea G 4/3/2018