drcook

I have a vibration in the front of my '96. (regardless of tires and/or wheels the vibration stays). Even though it now only has 19.5K miles, it sat for most of the 10 yrs prior to me purchasing it in 2016. I have already done the rears with SKF bearings.

Has any one had recent experience (good or bad) with either Moog or Timken bearings ? I am trying to make a decision as to which ones to buy.

Also, could a dead spot in the shocks be causing this? I have not had experience with a car setting for so much so long. I already have new Bilsteins that I am going to put on.

Thanks

Patsgarage

Just my .02, but I have had very bad experiences with the last few Timken bearings I have purchased. Two were covered under warranty, but I had to R&R them myself. Another failed in under 30k. I switched to SKF bearings, and have had no issues so far. As for Moog bearings, I have no firsthand experience with them.

Whaleman

19.5 is very low miles. Hard to believe they could wear out just sitting.

drcook

When I got the car it had 11,800. Remember though it sat for 10 yrs. It was not licensed until I did it in 2016.

The rears were leaking grease, the seals weren't the best.

SKF doesn't make front hub assemblies for a '96.

It has had that front end vibration through 3 sets of tires. The ones they put on it so I could get it home (still had the original Goodyears on it), the replacement ones (Nittos that flat spotted) and the ones I have on it now. Also 2 sets of rims. It never goes away.

That only leaves the bearings, unless there is a dead area in the shocks from sitting.

BLUE1972

Have you had the alignment checked. My 85 had a vibration issue - it was the alignment..

Also the rack may have a bad o ring , Try adding some Lucas power steering fix -

drcook

Had it aligned, twice. Steers perfectly. Vibration increases with speed.

All new ones, and since the rim size is the same, the vibration is still there regardless of which tires are on the front. I feel it through the wheel, not the seat. If felt through the seat it is in the rear, through the wheel, the front.

fake

Tires and the rims are a problem with seat vibration. Look for lost wheel weights ,split in rims, The cheaper brand of tires i have found are all junk, Good year, BF goodrich T/as or Michelins are your best bet!

jmgtp

I have had Timkens in the rear of my 94 for a few years, no issues thus far.

Agree with fake - look more into the tire/wheel. A road force balance may be all you need.

drcook

Thanks to all for answering, please read the entire post.

As I have said above, I have had 3 sets of tires, all new on the car since July 2016.

The set that was put on when I bought it. I sold those because of road noise.

The 2nd set was a set of Nittos that flat spotted in 3 days. NTB warrantied those. They were road force balanced, and swapped end for end before being warrantied.

The 3rd set of Coopers that are on it now. Two different sets of rims on these tires.

Doesn't matter which end of the car the tires are on, still has the vibration in the front. My car has the same size tires on all 4 corners.

It is either the bearings or a dead spot in the shocks from setting.

So back to the original question, Moogs or Timkens ? After seeing the rear bearing seals leaking grease from sitting, I am going to surmise that the fronts suffered some type of damage from sitting for so long.

Kevova

To try to determine what's causing the vibration you need a reed tach. Surprisingly they can be found in the hundred dollar range. A reed tach picks up frequency and amplitude of a vibration. You compare results to a table to determine where to look. IDK if a tire store would have one. GM dealer is required to have one. Something related to wheel, tire, rotor, & hub balance would be 1st order meaning one spot per revolution. On car wheel balancer should be able to correct, since everything rotating is balanced together. IMO I would have vibration analyzed before spending guessing with money.

MatthewMiller

I find it hard to imagine a scenario where sitting for 10 years could ruin a wheel bearing. The one possibility is if water got in and sat at the bottom and rusted a spot into the race and one ball. If that's the issue, then I would expect it to be noisy but not wobbly or "vibraty." That said, if the bearing is bad you should be able to detect that with that corner jacked up. To be sure, you can push the piston of the brake caliber in so the pads are holding the disk/wheel in the plane of rotation. At that point, you should be able to detect play as you try to wiggle the tire, or a bump as you spin the tire. I'd start there. Your idea of a dead spot in the shock is an interesting one. That should also be detectable if you remove the damper and push it through a full compression cycle. If you find a spot where the damping force is obviously lower in the middle of its travel, then you've found that problem. Or, if you already have new dampers for the car, just go ahead and install them and see if it goes away. Finally, if you haven't checked them, make sure that all tie rod ends are in good shape. If any of them has slop, it could allow a wheel vibration to happen in the direction of toe.

I know you've said you've tried different tires and wheels (wheels too, right?). To verify, you could rotate your current set and see if the vibration follows one tire from front to rear and side to side.

If you really narrow it fully down to the front bearings, then I'm not sure it matters anymore what the brand on the box says. They're all made in China, possibly in the same factory. At least on Rockauto's site, it looks like Moogs have a 3/36 warranty where Timkens only have 12mo. That alone might be worth getting Moogs. If you're just going to street drive the car, then any bearings are probably fine in terms of durability. If you're autocrossing or tracking the car, you might consider a conversion kit that allows the use of SKF X-tracker front hubs. These are much heavier duty bearings, especially for lateral loads imposed by full-weight cars on sticky tires. They are expensive, at almost $1k for both fronts. But they are big step up over any stock replacement.

drcook

I am/was trying to make a decision to catch a sale. That is why I am so interested, but the sale will come back around again.

1. The reason I replaced the rears, I looked inside and saw grease getting past the seals.

2. I guess I should just replace the shocks and see if that makes a difference. I have never had a shock develop a bad/dead spot before, but as I said, the car sat in one place for a long time. To roll back time, I posted up picks from the headliner we had to fix and when I got the car it was mildewed inside. It took some very careful scrubbing/disinfecting and using Ozium to kill the odor. We also had black spots on the leather redyed. It sat a long time.

3. I surmise the woman quit driving it because it developed the infamous 1996 Corvette HVAC issue. That is on the agenda to fix this summer also.

4. I have rotated tires, rims (both sets), nothing with the tires makes any difference.

I also have different rotors on the front. That didn't change anything either.

xrav22

I would go with MOOG , even though the owner of Pep Boys bought the brand. I wonder if you may find something while you are taking it apart. Something loose mabey.

bud40oz

could it be a warped brake rotor making it vibrate? didn't see where you said anything about changing those, maybe get a set when you do the bearings?
there isn't much else to make it vibrate really. tires.. bearings and rotors is about all the rotates

drcook

the brake rotors are new also. probably didn't need them, but I went through the brake system, after the car had sat for so many years I wanted to make sure it was safe.

this is why I am thinking bearings or dead spots in the shocks. I hope not the shocks, I am going to give them away as I have new ones of those also (Bilsteins). I am rebuilding the car back to new. I can't afford a new Vette, but I can make this one really really nice

NASCAR314

Maybe not, but they make em for Camaro / Firebird. Look at SKF BR930186 for a 95 Firebird on amazon for only $107.17 plus free shipping

Fit perfect, work perfect but hubs are threaded to accept the mounting bolt threads, so you put the bolts in from the backside (instead of front) and add the bolts for extra security. ABS sensor hook up's are identical. NO issues. I've been using them for 20 years on my 96 Vette

drcook

Thank you ! That has been talked about on the forum, but I didn't have a part number. I have a NAPA contact that sells parts to me at garage prices, I will also check them.

Summit also has them for $105.99 and they are 18 miles from me. They do charge tax, but the money adds up towards a Summit Bucks award. I have one worth $65.00 right now and have a $5.00 gift card. I am due for a $20.00 off $100.00 offering which will more than cover the tax.

One Moog is worth 2 SKF's in price (Advance Auto has the best prices on Moogs).

Tom400CFI

X2. I have those on mine and have had them for nearly 10 years. Several track days, many auto-x's and a lot of fun, twisty miles to work and home.

l98tpi

I've been running Timkens for several years, but may look into those SKF's if need bearings replaced. In regard to your front end shake. I would suspect the shocks are bad up front or possibly delaminated transverse spring.

Kubs

Shocks may be the issue. Even with low miles I wonder if some of the charge is gone or oil leaked out and as the tire rotates faster they have trouble controlling the vertical motion. The vibration may in fact be just some very fast up and down oscillation that cannot be controlled. Since you have the shocks put them on and see if anything changes. I would only change 1 thing at a time and see what happens.