Date:         Mon, 7 May 2012 05:56:06 -0400
Reply-To:     Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Rear Wheel (Bearing?) squeak
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

        Craig, I suggest you pump some grease in those bearings and see it that cures the problem.  You will need to remove the big axle nut, BIG socket wrench and long bar needed.  Use a needle injection fitting on the end of your grease gun, insert the needle in-between the race and the bearing rollers, pump grease until it comes out past the seal, do this in several locations around the perimeter of the bearing, re-install the hub tightening up the big nut without torque, clean-up the excess grease that will have squeezed out then re-install the brake drum, wheel, put vehicle back on the ground, block the wheel solidly then torque the nut to 360 ft. lbs.(VERY IMPORTANT).  Then jack up the vehicle and check the lateral movement of the wheel, it should be no more than 1/4" when rocking, top to bottom.  If you can rock the wheel more than 1/4" the bearing and or the spacer will have to be replaced.  Quite often it's the spacer that's worn and that what cause the looseness along with worn bearings.  The length of that spacer is critical, 42.8mm. Tightening the big nut WILL NOT take up the slack because the nut bottoms out on the end of the splines of the axel before the slack can be taken up.  
The bearing races and the spacer are a fixed length !  I have put zert grease fittings on my bearing carriers so that I can pump grease in there without the use of the needle and removing the big nut and hub, BUT you must remove the brake drum when pumping in the grease to watch for grease coming out of the seal or the seal popping out of place, so I do not do this for any customers unless they understand the consequences of pumping grease in that zert without knowing where its going, ON THE BRAKES.  Good luck with that and congratulations on getting that Syncro Sunroof back in circulation.  Happy sailing and come to BusFusion !  Or, we will meet up somewhere down the road, perhaps West River Westys or Westys at Watkins.

On 2012-05-06, at 7:53 PM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

> Hola gang!
> I now have my '87 Sunroof Syncro Registered and Inspected in PA! I've got
> 250 miles on my zetec install and life is grand.
> Aside from potentially having to pull it back out due to a leaking rear
> main seal (YUCK!), having yet to reboot and repack the front CV's.... she's
> ready for the road.
> 
> During the restoration process I replaced the rear brake components as well
> as disassembled, inspected, repacked, rebooted, and reinstalled the Rear
> CV's. I have not done the rear wheel bearings however.
> This van sat for 15 years, so all systems are suspect.
> 
> I currently have a squeeking with every revolution coming from the rear
> wheels (mainly the drivers side), but it strangely subsides/goes away
> during braking....?
> Or at least changes pitch.
> 
> To me that seems like it must be brake related then. The only other
> component back there left to fail is the rear wheel bearings. I've never
> tackled this job before but believe it's relatively straight forward right?
> 
> Any thoughts?????
> 
> Thanks guys!
> I take this bus out to New England with me for my third consecutive summer
> of working big boats on the Gold Coast in two weeks. I'm trying to get as
> many things in line before making the trip, but I can do minor/semi major
> work while out there. (I'd rather not pull an engine, but wheel bearings
> seem acceptable).
> I'll be seeing some of you guys again this summer at CT and NY campouts!



Cheers,    

Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 VW Westy, '00 Kawasaki 250 Sherpa, "98 Ducati 750 Monster & Lionel Trains (Collection for sale)
Frank Condelli & Associates - Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems
BusFusion a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 07 ~ 10, 2012




Cheers,    

Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 VW Westy, '00 Kawasaki 250 Sherpa, "98 Ducati 750 Monster & Lionel Trains (Collection for sale)
Frank Condelli & Associates - Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems
BusFusion a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 07 ~ 10, 2012