Rear Wheel Bearing Advice

[ianf]

Good morning all. Just looking for a bit of reassurance I think. I'm getting ready for a trip to Classic Le Mans (hoorah!) and have found play in rear wheel bearings particularly n/side (boo!), this wasn't picked up at MOT 500 miles ago but when the wheel is dangled the play can't be felt, only really when weight on car and suspension has settled. I think they were in a worse state when I bought the car 15 years ago and had them changed then - so after 45,000 miles they don't owe me much. There is no rumble or any other noise when driving so I'm planning to risk the trip (maybe 600 miles). A friend is in the race and I will be following truck and trailer for the main commute there and back so it won't be a typical classic car tour at speed.

Any thoughts?

Many thanks. Ian

[UAB807F]

From your description it sounds like you've done the trick of trying to shake the wheel off the car when it's stationary and felt something move, is that right ? If so, I guess my first question is, are you sure it's the bearings ? If you are then as you say bearings can rumble away for many miles but, and I know you won't want to hear this, they might just decide to pack in at the most inconvenient time. 15yrs old at 45k sounds a good deal on Elan bearings to me !

So personally I'd change them for peace of mind. It's the sort of job you need to do in a workshop with all the messing about with rotoflex, etc, and not something to do at the side of the road or spoiling such a good trip, not for 20 quids worth of bearing anyway.

[Allison]

Ian,

hi, you won't see or feel any rear wheel bearing play when the wheel is dangled - reason being that the donuts are fully stretched and you cannot move the drive shaft because the pull from the donut has much more force than you can produce!
I suggest you jack the car up, remove road wheel and jack the rear suspension upright until the wishbone is as close to horizontal as possible - and the donuts are not stretched. Then you can rotate the hub easily (if the bearings are smooth!) and you can check for play by waggling the shaft. Basically if you can feel movement the only sensible thing to do is to replace said bearing before it damages the driveshaft and your brakepads.
May sound boring but I think its best! As your other respondent said - do you prefer working in your garage or at the side of the road?
Peter
BTW - sales plug! I have had some hub extractors made and they are available at ?65 plus postage if you're interested.

[Foxie]

I have just replaced all 4 (wide type) rear bearings in the +2S after ~15 years/40K miles.

The rumbling had become un-ignorable, but I was unable to detect any free play before dis-assembly. I suspected the near-side, but they were perfect. However, both off-side bearings were found to be badly spalled.

The fact that the off-side went first might have been due to the fact that I drilled and tapped an oil filler opening in the nearside hub at axle centre level, and filled it with engine oil to help dissapate heat.

Can't remember why I only did one side at the time, but I have now done the other side now.

The peace of mind is very enjoyable

[ianf]

Thanks all - looks like it is a trip in MX5! Great website by the way 807F

Cheers,

Ian