I'm a good son-in-law. My mother-in-law's car was making a horrible noise, and she thought it needed an alignment. I asked why she thought that, and she said that she had "googled it." I told her to bring the car to the house and let me see about it. I had her ride with me when I drove the car, and I instantly knew it was a wheel bearing. Man, that thing was roaring, and she had been driving it like that on the interstate for a few weeks, going back and forth from Opelika to Montgomery to see a family member that has been in the hospital. When we got back from the drive, I jacked the car up, did the shake test, and the thing had a lot of play from side to side, and I showed her what I had found. I then put the transmission into neutral, and in spinning the wheel, you could hear it making a lot of noise. I did the same for the other side and showed her that there was no shake and no noise. That was last Sunday, and I told her not to drive the car, and we let her use my daughter's car until I had the time to replace the wheel bearing, and today was the day.
So, that what I did today on a day off. The car is a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu, and thank goodness it uses a hub/bearing assembly and not "press in" bearings. Everything went super smooth and easy, as the car is in really good condition with no rusted parts and no grime build up anywhere. When I was removing the brake caliper, one of the pads actually came apart. I have never seen a brake pad do this, but the material actually fell off the metal backing plate, and the pads were not worn much at all. So, yep, I replaced the front brake pads also. When I got everything all back together I took the car for a test drive and it is nice and quiet again. My mother-in-law will pick the car up later tonight, and I know she will immediately notice the difference. Yep, today, I am THE man!!!
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