ok, I got my car back from the body shop not to long ago, and since then on occasion there is a rythmic thumpin that I can feel in the car, it steers fine, and runs wonderfully, but at certain speeds I feel it, but it doesn't do it all the time, a friend of mine suggested it may be the wheel bearings going bad, which would make sense, my question is, how hard/expensive would it be to replace/repair this? I figure, it is a 12 year old car, and even if this is not due to them, it wouldn't hurt to change them regardless.

 

i'd say wheel bearing starting to go

 

oh goody

oh well, I guess I should find out how much effort this is going to be, time to get dirty again I suppose.

(hey, look, 50 posts, woohoo)

 

all right, I found the howto on mazdatrix on replacing the front wheel bearings, and it looks like I am gonna tackle that project some time next week, I am broke, my question is, is there such a thing as rear bearings? I didn't see any on mazdatrix for sale, so I assume either, 1) they don't exist, or 2) they are a common item I can go to discount auto parts and get. I would rather replace the rear bearings first, and see if that fixes my problem, rather than get deeply involved in replacing the fronts. so, with that in mind, To the cheap parts store!!

 

You can get the rear bearings at Pep Boys.

 

I got mine back from the shop and had a rythmic thumping that occured occasionally on acceleration or when turning. It turned out to be the front universal joint hitting the heat shield.....a little forming and bending and presto no more noise.... :satisfied:

 

I just finished a front bearing job on my TII. The bad bearing made a loud growling noise that started about 15-20 mph and got louder with speed. Braking had no effect on the noise, and neither did shifter or clutch position. If its clunking, I would look at something other than a bearing.

 

Very true....I would look else where for the noise...Drive train would be a good start...