Date:         Tue, 20 May 2008 11:12:33 -0500
Reply-To:     Andrew Philbrick <herrschildkrote@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Philbrick <herrschildkrote@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Time to change rear drive axle??
Comments: To: barriver witch <barriverwitch@HOTMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <BLU144-W2809008AF5716DB7DBDF10A5C40@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hey Cindy,

Perfect timing for me - I am currently changing the rear wheel bearings
on my '86 (as soon as the parts arrive, that is).  Here is what I
experienced.

About 2 months and about 4,000 miles before it 'went', I was hearing
some weird vibrations from the rear wheels while going highway speeds.
The sound sounded like when you hit the rumble (wake up) strips on the
side of the highway.  It would only happen extremely intermittently
(about once every 1,000 miles), would last for about 1-2 minutes, then
would not be heard from again.  It took me a while to realize what the
problem is

The scary part is that they can go all of a sudden.  When mine finally
went, I was driving interstate and the rear wheel went from being
vertical to at about 15 degree off of center.  This caused my tire to
rub against the suspension and wear out some of the sidewall.  I'm just
lucky that didn't cause a blowout.

Id suggest taking Niel's advice and checking the areas for wear.  If
nothing looks worn, I'd take the Westy into a tire shop and ask them to
re-balance the wheels.

Andrew

barriver witch wrote:
> Can anyone tell me the signs of having a bad rear bearing? or signs of it starting to go?? I have a long trip planned and don't really want to change it unless I have to...sometimes I feel a vibration,, not sure if it's the tires or not, or the bearings... any info will help
> thanks again
> Cindy
> 80 Westy..a.k.a charlie
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