Can a Bad Wheel Bearing Affect Gas Mileage?

Can a Bad Wheel Bearing Affect Gas Mileage?

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Cars have wheel bearings on both the front and rear wheels. The role of these wheel bearings is to reduce friction when the wheels are spinning.

When there’s increased friction, the car tires and wheels will generate a lot of heat which sometimes can be dangerous for its general performance. Wheel bearings serve as wheel and tire lubricants which assist in reducing heat.

Wheel bearings are mainly installed in the steering assembly and wheel drive axles. These bearings can last for years, although it’ll depend on the frequency of driving the vehicle.

One of the most common questions most car owners ask is whether a bad wheel bearing affects gas mileage. This has been a subject of debate among people across the globe.

In reality, bad wheel bearings can affect many things in vehicles, including mileage, speed, acceleration, and brakes. When you drive your car with bad wheel bearings, you’ll likely see uneven tire or wheel wear and tear.

This will make your vehicle lean on one side, thus increasing safety risk while on the road.

Can a Bad Wheel Bearing Affect Gas Mileage?

Most car owners usually don’t care about maintaining or replacing bad wheel bearings until it’s too late. Defective bearings make driving on roads risky.

The main causes of bad wheel bearings include:

Poor Installation

 Wheel bearings will fail terribly due to poor installation, mainly associated with reusing aged accessories like bolts, nuts, etc., or using the wrong installation tools. This will increase accident risks.

Uneven road surfaces

Driving frequently on uneven road surfaces will damage your wheel bearings. This mainly happens when steel balls can’t reduce wheel friction further.

Unbalanced wheels/tires

Vehicle tires require routine maintenance to ensure they’re well-balanced. When they’re not balanced, they’ll put excess pressure on wheel bearings, thus causing damage.

Driving conditions

If you drive your vehicle frequently on water or mud, its wheel bearings will wear out after their grease is polluted and make them start malfunctioning.

Accident

A car accident can potentially cause damage to wheel bearings. In some cases, hitting speed bumps and potholes also causes them to malfunction.

Quality

Low-quality wheel bearings will likely fail faster, especially when exposed to harsh driving conditions.

Regardless of the cause, bad wheel bearings will affect gas mileage in your vehicle in various ways.

First, it’ll reduce your car’s speed and acceleration. When this happens, it means that your car’s engine will have to work extra hard so that it maintains its speed.

Secondly, bad wheel bearings will make your car lean on one side, thus making its control difficult thus reducing travel efficiency.

Impact of a Bad Wheel Bearing on Gas Mileage?

Bad wheel bearings can be quite dangerous for your car. More so they can have an effect on your gas mileage.

Below are the impacts a bad wheel bearing can have on gas mileage;

Increased friction and drag on wheels

Bad wheel bearings will increase friction and drag on car wheels. This will eventually slow down the car, increase wear and tear on the tires, noise emission, energy consumption, and increase rolling contact fatigue on tires.

Reduced engine efficiency

Defective wheel bearings reduce engine efficiency in cars. This mainly happens due to the increased strain and stress caused by malfunctioning bearings on the wheel.

It adds unnecessary strain to the engine, which over time, reduces its efficiency.

Increased strain on the car’s transmission

Bad wheel bearings will increase strain on a car’s transmission system. This will make gear shifting difficult, which in turn will make your clutch wear out quickly.

Make it difficult for wheels to rotate smoothly

When your car’s wheel bearings begin malfunctioning, they’ll potentially make the transmission work harder, thus making it difficult for the wheels to rotate smoothly.

This will also lead to wear and tear of the wheel over time if the appropriate action isn’t taken immediately.

Increase in the rolling resistance of the tire

Tire rolling resistance mainly increases with the applied torque. Bad bearings are the leading cause of increased tire rolling resistance.

They make it difficult for the car to send the required energy to its tires, thus making its movement on surfaces and speed inconsistent.

Can Bad Wheel Bearings Affect Fuel Economy?

Generally, bad wheel bearings can affect fuel economy in vehicles. Studies show that there’s clear evidence that wheel end tightness significantly affects fuel economy.

When your vehicle has bad wheel bearings, there’s a higher risk of the tires wearing out, increased transmission strain, and tire rolling resistance.

All these put abnormal pressure on both the engine and the tires, thus making it difficult for the vehicle to move normally. This strain increases the fuel required to move to a certain distance by at least 20%.  

Whenever your car’s wheels aren’t moving freely, you should check their bearings for damage and replace them. This way, you’ll improve fuel economy.

How to Diagnose a Bad Wheel Bearing?

Wheel bearings play a significant role in the overall performance of vehicles.

They help reduce friction, improve wheel rotation, improve fuel economy and reduce unnecessary strain on the car’s transmission system.

Below are the signs that your car has bad wheel bearings:

Increased vibration and shakiness

Damaged wheel bearings result in increased vibration and shakiness in a vehicle when driving.

This mainly happens due to the increased friction that makes the wheels move out of their natural place.

Grinding noises

Wheel bearings act as lubricants in car tires and wheels. Bad wheel bearings will make the metal come into contact with other metals, thus leading to some grinding noises and excessive friction.

Vehicle slows down

While driving along the road, you might notice that your vehicle has suddenly slowed down from its usual speed. In most cases, this is due to worn-out wheel bearings, which can’t allow the tires to move smoothly as usual.

Loose steering wheel

Worn-out wheel bearings will make the steering wheel loose making it difficult to drive, especially on rough road surfaces.

Worn-out tires

When you keep driving your car with bad wheel bearings, its tires will wear out unevenly due to their unbalanced alignment.

These are signs of bad wheel bearings in vehicles.

According to car experts, it’s essential to check wheel conditions and suspension from time to time to diagnose worn-out wheel bearings.

It’s also essential to check wheel pressure and find out the causes of abnormal grumbling or growling noise from your car.

You can diagnose these noises by listening while driving, sway test, and testing on a lift.

Conclusion

A bad wheel bearing will affect gas mileage and your general car performance. It’s advisable to take your car for maintenance from time to time to check for possible problems.

The cost of replacing bad wheel bearings will vary depending on the vehicle model, brand, price of parts, and labor rate at various garages.

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