Would bad wheel bearings in a Dodge minivan make it pull to one side.?

Question

We think we have bad wheel bearings.Some syptoms are high pitched humming(can't think of another way to decribe it) when the speed gets past 35 or 40 MPH the faster the higher the humm. Recently It started to pull to one side but after pulling off at a rest stop it quit pulling. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

i know the sound your trying to describe,,i own a repair shop,,and believe me i have heard it a lot,,yes it will make it try and pull to one side,,it will also get really hot on the side of the bad bearing,,another thing that will make it pull really bad is a brake caliper sticking on it,,this will make it pull ,,and make humming sounds,,or more like a whining sound,,you may need to get it checked out ,,because this can be a safety issue if it gets bad enough,,i have seen some lock up,,and cause accidents,,so you might want to take it,,and have it checked just to be sure,,good luck with it,,i hope this help.s

Answer 2

High pitched hum is from the tires.
Pulling to one side is the alignment.

If you rotate the tire and compare it to the same tire on the other side, not the same side, of the van, does it have additional drag?

This drag could be dragging brakes.

A bad bearing will have a "popping" feel when you pull on the wheel, like it is loose. When you run on this wheel, it should wobble a lot.

Answer 3

i have never seen a car pull from a bad wheel bearing in my 20 plus year career unless the bearing is completely trashed and then you dont have much luck driving it. steer your car from side to side at speed and if the noise changes then yes it is a wheel bearing, what you are doing is loading and unloading the bearing, when the noise gets quiet or louder, its that side thats bad. but please be careful, do it on an empty road

Answer 4

Yes it sounds like your bearings are going bad. Check the alignment too.