Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:04:27 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Rear wheel bearing play
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a tiny bit of up-down play, that you can feel in the whole wheel/tire is
normal.
Like a few thousandth's of an inch there.
Never measured it. A spark plug gap is .032 inches.
I've seen up to that much play up-down, with smooth turning bearings and
thought that was getting kinda worn/loose,
and the were getting due 'just because' ...
because they had over 150K miles on them anyway.
Commonly they have half that much play
normally there is no 'repacking of the bearings'
however.....when you remove the big nut and flange, you can sneak a small
spoonful or so of synthetic wheel bearing grease into the outer bearing,
helping to extend it's service life.
The outer bearing takes a majority of the load. It's significantly smaller
than the inner bearing, but it's a really well made roller bearing.
Amazing actually how well they last.
I have seen only a few get actually rumbly and really totally shot.
What usually happens is that they have a jillion miles on them, and you do
them because they are 'just due.'
Whether the bearings we get these days are as good as the originals
......that is a question sometimes for sure.
'Usually' ...right side things in the wheels and suspension wear a little
more than left-side things..
so you'd start with the right rear, if both rears seemed to have about the
same amount of wear or play on them.
It's also nice to have a whole spare hub and stub axle ..
then you replace seals and bearings in that one carefully, taking your time,
then 'one of these weekends' you swap out the whole housing.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shawn Wright" <vwdiesels@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:00 AM
Subject: Rear wheel bearing play
> How much play is acceptable for rear wheel bearings? Both of mine have a
> small amount of play, enough to feel with the wheel on, but not enough to
> see movement. Bearings feel smooth enough though. I measured about 0.12mm
> play between the backing plate and drum outer face when the opposite side
> was squeezed by hand. Given these bearings are a pain to replace, do I
> just
> wait until they make some noise or show more play? I don't imagine
> re-packing & re-torquing that big nut is recommended?
>
>
> --
> Shawn Wright
