Front wheel noise on 1999 Suburban K1500

I have a 1999 Suburban K1500 with 130,000 miles that has developed a loud noise coming from the front end that is speed dependent. It sounds like bad tire noise but rotating the tires has no effect. Traveling at highway speeds and dropping the truck into neutral has no effect on the noise nor does engaging the brakes. I have jacked up the front end and removed the calipers and rotors and turning both front hubs is difficult and they do not seem as smooth as I expected them to be. Not irregular or catching but not completely smooth either. If I give either front tire a good hard spin they rotate less than one-half revolution (this is with everything in place). All 4 front CV boots are intact and the front differential is full of lube (synthetic for several years and never needed topping up). Both front wheels spin independently of each other so I don't believe it is the transfer case(?). How do I tell if it is the bearings/hubs or the CVs or the differential? Is there anything else that it may be or should I just replace both front hubs?

Thanks, Arjay

Reply to
arjayess
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Probably a bad hub bearing. They kind of rumble if the bearings are starting to fail. Does the sound change when your going through a curve in the road? If yes then it will also point you to which side is bad. If your going through a left hand curve and it gets worse then look at the right side and the opposite for a right curve. What your listening for is the difference the load on the bearing makes in the sound.

Reply to
Steve W.

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