wheel bearing?

[wtnhunt]

Wife hit something in the road this morning hard enough that it bent the back rim on our 2012 impala, looked pretty substantial no damage apparent to the tire though. When I was loading the tire rim in the back of our durango to take it to the tire shop to see if it can be bent back, I noticed what looked like brown grease around the insides of the lug nuts holes. Wheel bearings on these cars packed with brown grease? Gonna guess with my luck that the bearings need replaced and probably need a re alignment on the rear end, just had one about 6000 miles ago. Anything else to look for, hub damage?

[wtnhunt]

Lynn, Shaun, anyone?

[Shaun_300]

Sorry William, didn't see this post. The grease you're seeing may just be grease that someone put on the wheel studs. The bearings don't usually leak grease. They are sealed units and are a hub and bearing assembly. Once the wheel is back on grab it at 12 and 6, and 9 and 3 and shake it side to side to see if there is any play. If there is none and you don't hear any rumbling noises while driving I wouldn't be too concerned.

[wtnhunt]

Thanks Shaun. No play, but when I spun the wheel it did seem to have one spot where it slowed. I wiped the grease off before putting the wheel back on, will check it out again this weekend.

Wife took it to the chevy dealer Friday to have the back end realigned again but their alignment machine was down.