Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 18:00:53 EDT
Reply-To:     KENWILFY@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         KENWILFY@AOL.COM
Subject:      Rear Wheel Bearing Nightmare!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Getting ready for my trip to PA next weekend (see other post) I really wanted
to fix whatever this noise was that had been coming from the back of my van
for a while.  I only noticed it when I replaced the rusted out muffler.  It
was a "Wub, wub, wub" noise that got louder as you went down the highway.  At
first it was faint, but as time went on it got louder.  I thought it was the
CV joints and when we were down south I pumped these full of CV grease.
Didn't seem to help.
Finally a month ago I started getting this squeaking noise whenever I would
take off from a standing start and then the other noise as I went faster.
I would also notice a clicking noise when I would stop the van and it really
sounded like CV joints.

Anyway I decided that it had to be the rear wheel bearing on the passenger
side (it seems like these go bad first for some reason).  Removing this rear
hub is not easy and I kept putting it off until last week.

When I finally did remove the rear hub assembly here is what I found:
Loose axle nut (probably because of bad bearing)
Splines that hold inner and outter hub together were worn so that the hub
would wobble back and forth.

The only way to fix this was to replace the entire hub assembly with a good,
used one!  I had a spare one ready to go (I had a bad feeling this might be
the problem so I was prepared) so we changed out the bearings (not for the
faint of heart and you will need a press or something to get that outter
bearing out), repacked it with grease and now she is as quiet as you please.

My advice on this one:
When the rear starts making a noise, that is the time to stop and replace the
bearings.  If you let it go too long you are going to wind up wrecking the
whole rear hub assembly and that really stinks.  If you put the assembly back
together worn you will still get noises, and it will probably lead to
problems down the road.

The parts needed to replace the rear wheel bearings on one side are:
2- Rear Axle Seals PN 211501317 ($1 each)
1- Inner Bearing- PN 211501287- $16
1- Outter Bearing w/race- PN 211501283D- $25
1- Container of All Purpose Grease
You will also need to unhook the CV axle from the assembly so it might be a
good time to repack these as well.

Have fun and try not to get greasy.

Thanks,
Ken Wilford
http://www.vanagain.com
John 3:16
Phone: (856)-765-1583
Shop:   (856)-327-0027
Fax:     (856)-327-2242