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Date:         Sun, 19 Jan 2014 11:59:48 -0600
Reply-To:     JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Tell me about rear bearings
Comments: To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <CAFnDXk3pRB=L02B33cDXS77TMjBserWzmJhB2d6jgQrazdNV1Q@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

OK, as long as there is a way to check wheel bearing wear - How can I check upper and lower ball joint wear. I've a vibration up front and it's not the wheels/tires. No noise in the front wheel bearings either. Have new tie-rod ends installed along with a front end alignment. As good as it can get with bad ball joints I guess.

Thanks,

John

On 1/19/2014 10:44 AM, Jim Felder wrote: > Thanks, Dennis. I suspect the front, and am prepared to deal with it today, > but just wanted to check. The rears are mainly suspect because of the high > mileage on them (as much as 355,000 if they are original). > > I was going to amend my opinion on the rears anyway. I went back out and > checked; they have no play in the horizontal axis but a little in the > vertical axis, if I grab the top and bottom, that is. > > Jim > > > On Sun, Jan 19, 2014 at 10:30 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote: > >> If you can affect the rumbling noise by changing direction the problem is >> usually the front. The front bearings also fail much more often than the >> rears. To test you need to pull the calipers to get the pads off of them. >> Even then without load they sound OK but still be problem. The front >> bearing >> really should be inspected and re-lubed every 30K or each brake job. >> >> The play in the rear is normal. With the van rear very well supported you >> can let the engine spin the rear wheels and using a stethoscope (or big >> screw driver) on the housing a bad bearing will be evident. Once they are >> making noise grease will not fix them. >> >> Dennis >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of >> Jim Felder >> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 11:10 AM >> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM >> Subject: Tell me about rear bearings >> >> Of all the Vanagon things I have done, here is one I have not. On the road, >> at any speed, if I turn the car to the left so as to put the force on the >> right side, I hear a rum-rum-rum sound that matches the rotational speed of >> the car. Suspecting races that were not fully seated on the front wheels >> (like all low frequency sounds, it's hard to get a location on this by >> listening) after a recent replacement, I jacked up the front and checked >> the >> bearings. They don't move and any noise I hear I believe is the slight drag >> of the pads and on the rotors. >> >> I jacked up the rear and this is what I found: there is not any noticeable >> wobble on eaither of the rear wheels, but I can pull them in and out with a >> noticeable clunk and about 1/16 of free play, maybe a hair more. >> >> Does that signal replacement time, or is there more I could be doing to >> check the bearings? The car doesn't make any other unusual sounds form the >> drive train when going straight down the road. >> >> Jim >> >> >


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