Symptoms of a failing Rear Hub Assembly

Vibrations

Okay, let me give you a quick piece of advice that you should always apply. If your car’s vibrating, then something isn’t right, and that something should be addressed. If the rear hub assembly begins to wear too much, it may start to transfer some vibrations back into the cabin. You’ll feel that immediately, and don’t take it as a free massage and forget about it. Things in your car cabin shouldn’t shake. Don’t forget that.

Foreign noises

Here’s something that I really hope you don’t need to be told: Your car should not be making weird noises. Hubs that have an integral wheel bearing may make a growling or humming noise when they’re going out. You also might hear a metal-on-metal grinding noise from the rear wheels. If the rear hub assembly breaks, metal components will scrape against each other as the car drives. It’s about as pleasant of a noise as you would imagine metal-on-metal scraping to be.

Visible damage

Look, I understand that you’re probably not hanging out with your rear hub assemblies on the weekend. But when you get your tires changed, or rotated (which you should be doing, even though you’re not), the technician may notice if the rear hub assembly is starting to go. A rear hub assembly that is starting to fail may crack or just be visibly worn out.