Rear wheel bearings

[Uboat]

Hi,

I have an issue with the left rear wheel bearing. I have noticed a low grinding sound when changing direction on road speeds. Not only in sharp bends but everytime I change direction with a small roll of the car. It is only in one direction (I can?t remember if it appears when turning left or right, and I can't check it as the suspension is now off the car). It sounds like if the tyre touches the body, but the clearance is ok and this is not the issue.

I have now taken off the strut, as I intend to change the bearing, but this seems to be fine, with no play and easy to rotate with my hands. Is this an evidence that the bearing is ok, or should I continue to change the bearing?

Your advice would be very helpful!
/Ulf

[paddy]

Are you sure it's not the wheel rim fouling the wishbone (or wishbone bolts). There is often minimal clearance and any play in the bearing could show up there.

Also, if there is end-float in the bearing, could the brake disc be fouling the caliper?

I would think you could check for movement in the bearing with a dial gauge first instead of just replacing it on the off-chance. However, there is clearly something wrong and, wherever the noise is coming from, the bearing is pretty likely to be the root cause.

Paddy

[512BB]

Guten morgan Ulf
When i was carrying out some maintenance last year, i noticed that with one of the rear wheels raised, there was the slightest bit of play, when you got hold of the tyre at 9 & 3 o clock, and rocked. Bugger i thought, in a short space of time, that will manifest itself into bearing noise when on the move. So i pre-empted any trouble, and changed both bearings on my issue 18 struts, ie 1 large outer bearing, 1 small inner, which is what you will have, i am sure. Bear in mind that there had been no noises coming from the housing.
On removing both bearings, i found that neither showed any signs of play, indeed they were both as you would expect to find with bearings that were in good order, quite stiff to turn. What i believe was evident when i was rocking the tyre, was the large nut that secures the drive shaft was loose, but i didnt think of that until after i had replaced the bearings!
Now in your case, remove the shaft that passes through the housing, and then rotate the bearings. If they turn very easily with your fingers, particularly the larger bearing, i would say that they were on the way out, as a bearing that is in good order will have some resistance when trying to turn it.
In any event, as it is a right pain to get the strut off the car, but you are already at that stage, CHANGE THE BEARINGS ANYWAY.

All the best,

Leslie

[miked]

Paddy has a point about the "A" frame and bolts touching but may not be the bearings as a cause. The outer A frame bushes, when shot, can allow forward and aft' movement and bring the wheel rim into contact with the "A" frame or bolt head.

Are these bushes in good condition? This why I use the Poly as they restrict that movement. If you have Alloys wheels they get closer than steel ones

Mike

Ps have you looked inside the wheel rims to see a groove mark were your paint may be missing?

[Frank Howard]

Ulf,

Last year, as I was planning a 600 mile trip, I realized that the only part of my car that I had never inspected was the rear wheel bearings. A wheel bearing failure could put a damper on any trip, so I decided to take a look. As it turned out, water had just begun to seep into one of them and the grease had turned to a rust color however I had spotted the problem just in time. I took all 4 "lifetime sealed" bearings apart, removed the 37 year old grease, cleaned them, and repacked them. This gave me piece of mind during the trip as the boot was full and thus the load on the rear wheel bearings was increased.

Chances are your 35 year old rear wheel bearings have never been inspected. It's just a matter of time before something will go wrong so you'll have to inspect them at some point in time regardless. And the longer you put it off, the less chance you'll have to catch a problem before it turns into something worse. Best of luck Ulf.

[elan_fan]

Hey Ulf, Just to go back over the lower A Frame bolts, the bolts should really be a type with a turned down head like this (log in to view):

regards
Mark

[Uboat]

Thanks folks,

I believe I'd better change the bearing whether they are the source of noice or not. BTW, I noticed that the hub is slightly skewed from earlier hub-pulling efforts, which may have something to do with the wear of the bearing, although it is not noticable when driving,
/Ulf

[nebogipfel]

It is not at all unusual for bearings to get very noisy and yet have no play in them.

I have dismantled bearings which feel (and look on inspection) fine but are nevertheless noisy.

A good test for wheel bearing noise is that when cornering the noise will often get louder as the bearing is put under load and quieter when it is not.

IE If you are turning around a tight left hander and the noise gets louder and quieter when turning a right hander then it is almost certainly the left hand bearing which is at fault ......... and of course the opposite for the other one!

[elj221c]

Ulf,
Just a thought. I would check the prop shaft UJs first. The last time I had noises coming from the rear in turning in one direction, it was caused by a worn UJ. Quite a frighteneing noise which I had changeing lanes on the motorway. It caused me to do something I try to avoid, i.e. stop on the hard shoulder. I checked all the wheels but they were solid so I drove home very carefully. When I was able to inspect with the car in the air it was quite apparent that the diff end UJ had lost needles from one of it's cups.
Roy
'65S2

[mikealdren]

If the A frame bolts are touching, you ought to be able to see evidence. Look for shiny areas on the frame/bolts and corresponding wear (or missing paint) in a line around the wheel rim at the closest point.

Mike

[nebogipfel]

Ulf,
Just a thought. I would check the prop shaft UJs first. The last time I had noises coming from the rear in turning in one direction, it was caused by a worn UJ. Quite a frighteneing noise which I had changeing lanes on the motorway. It caused me to do something I try to avoid, i.e. stop on the hard shoulder. I checked all the wheels but they were solid so I drove home very carefully. When I was able to inspect with the car in the air it was quite apparent that the diff end UJ had lost needles from one of it's cups.
Roy
'65S2

Worn UJ's usually cause tooth shaking vibration rather than the typical moaning wheel bearing noise but it's certainly worth checking.

[Uboat]

I have a new TTR final drive, so that is not the source of the noice (this was also appearing with the rotoflex-couplings on)...

[Roy Gillett]

Hi Ulf,

FWIW I had a similar noise a few year's ago and found that the inside wheel rim was catching the copper brake line where it went past the strut. In fact it had cut a groove in it which was getting close to cutting right through it. Bearings were the cause but it was quite sobering to see how near I was to losing the brakes!


Roy

[gordonlund]

A common failure is the bearing inner race spinning on the shaft and wearing a groove in the shaft. Bearing could be in good condition, new even but wheel will still wobble.

Gordon