DNQfromMP

So I am wondering if I have bad front wheel bearings after doing a road race track day on thursday. I am getting a loud clicking noise from the area of my wheels when making sharp turns (high lateral g-forces). It makes the noise while turning in both directions, but more loudly in one direction than the other. Ive checked literally everything including my brakes and suspension and I cant find anything. The only thing Ive found is a very slight amount of wobble when I tug on the top and bottom of the front wheels to check for looseness in the wheel bearings. It is so slight that I cant visibly see the wobble, but I can feel and hear the wheel making a slight clunk as I rock it back and forth to check for play in the wheel bearing. The amount of play is small enough that I question whether I have a bad wheel bearing or not.

How much wheel bearing runout is acceptable and from what location should I measure for runout with my dial indicator?

My car only has 18k miles on it, and I dont want to pay the $160 apiece for new wheel bearings only to find that they werent causing the problem. Ive tried pulling the wheels off and checking the hub assembly by itself but I cant feel any play when I am just pushing on the hub only. Apparently I need the wheel on there to get enough leverage to feel the sliught amount of plaly that I mentioned above. Help!

Bill Dearborn

Sometimes it is vey hard to tell if the bearings are bad. They do not need to be loose to be bad. On my 97 the only way the tech knew the bearing was bad was when he removed it he was able to turn it in his hands and feel the roughness in the bearing. The play was within expected tolerance.

From the Service Manual:

Important
Support the vehicle by the lower control arms or the rear axle to prevent movement during wheel bearing/hub inspection.


Mount and secure the J 8001 Dial Indicator.
Ensure that the dial indicator contacts the vertical surface of the wheel as close as possible to the top wheel stud.
Push and pull on the top of the tire in order to inspect the total travel indicated by the dial indicator. Is the measurement greater then the specified value? 0.27 mm (0.005 in) If so replace the bearing.


Bill

DNQfromMP

i pulled the brakes and spun the hub by hand and didnt feel any blatant roughness as i spun it. I'll have to perform that runout check tomorrow. thanks for the input. -Quin

Janster

Not familiar with vette bearings (enclosed) - but I've repacked and set bearing preload enough times that there shouldn't be much of any play or roughness at all. If you do have 'play' and 'roughness' - it's only a matter of time.

And honestly....if you can positively confirm that your bearings are going bad - don't wait too long before replacing them. Running bad bearings could cause problems elsewhere (warped rotors for example).

Just something to think about....