wheel bearing issues

wildmandave · Sep 25, 2005

I installed some Weld prostars on my car a few months ago. Since then I have gone through 2 sets of wheel bearings on the front. I must use spacers with the front wheels to clear the brake caliper. The wheels are 15x 8 on the front and I'm not sure about the backspacing (they were on the back when I bought the car with stock wheels on front). I'm not sure if the offset of the wheels or the spacers are beating up my wheel bearings or if I need to upgrade to a better bearing (if one is even made).

mo_dingo · Sep 25, 2005

wildmandave said:
I installed some Weld prostars on my car a few months ago. Since then I have gone through 2 sets of wheel bearings on the front. I must use spacers with the front wheels to clear the brake caliper. The wheels are 15x 8 on the front and I'm not sure about the backspacing (they were on the back when I bought the car with stock wheels on front). I'm not sure if the offset of the wheels or the spacers are beating up my wheel bearings or if I need to upgrade to a better bearing (if one is even made).

I don't see how the wheel spacers could have any affect on your wheel bearings. You are installing new races and packing the bearings when you installed the new ones, right?

I don't know how the front is setup on your car, but if I remember right, you have to torque it to 260ft.lbs or something like that??? Or is it a castle nut w/ a cotter pin? I don't remember.
Scott

wildmandave · Sep 25, 2005

mo_dingo said:
I don't see how the wheel spacers could have any affect on your wheel bearings. You are installing new races and packing the bearings when you installed the new ones, right?

I don't know how the front is setup on your car, but if I remember right, you have to torque it to 260ft.lbs or something like that??? Or is it a castle nut w/ a cotter pin? I don't remember.
Scott

I bought hub assemblies from auto zone $50 each. No packing grease necessary as they come sealed. Sounds like planned obsolecence to me as I prefer to pack the bearings myself. Not sure what the torque spec is though.

meyers2211 · Sep 26, 2005

what does it sound like when they are on their way out

wildmandave · Sep 26, 2005

meyers2211 said:
what does it sound like when they are on their way out

They sound like a clicking when you take a corner like on a front wheel drive.

meyers2211 · Sep 26, 2005

i'm sorry to whore your thread but when i'm cruising i have a squeling/squeking noise coming from the front left wheel, i thought perhaps the wheel bearing was going? Gets faster and louder, the louder i go.

mo_dingo · Sep 26, 2005

wildmandave said:
I bought hub assemblies from auto zone $50 each. No packing grease necessary as they come sealed. Sounds like planned obsolecence to me as I prefer to pack the bearings myself. Not sure what the torque spec is though.

refresh my memory, is the main hub nut torqued to something crazy or does it have a castle nut with a cotter pin and it's torqued tight, then backed off? I don't remember. And if you don't know, then you need to check it because there is a rating for that main hub nut and you may have screwed something up.
Scott

wildmandave · Sep 27, 2005

mo_dingo said:
refresh my memory, is the main hub nut torqued to something crazy or does it have a castle nut with a cotter pin and it's torqued tight, then backed off? I don't remember. And if you don't know, then you need to check it because there is a rating for that main hub nut and you may have screwed something up.
Scott

I've done my homework and checked the haynes manual because there is no cotter pin/castle nut and I want to torque it to spec. The book calls for 221 to 295 ft.lbs. I installed the bearing yesterday and it still clicks when I turn right! I need to source a better bearing I think.

wildmandave · Sep 27, 2005

meyers2211 said:
i'm sorry to whore your thread but when i'm cruising i have a squeling/squeking noise coming from the front left wheel, i thought perhaps the wheel bearing was going? Gets faster and louder, the louder i go.

Have you checked the brakes? Sounds like a caliper hanging up(not fully releasing). If you are sure the brake checks OK then replace the bearing. Usually when the bearing wears you can feel it in the steering and if you jack up the car and put it on a jack stand you can check for play by grabbing the tire on top and bottom and pushing back and forth. If the wheel has play replace the bearing.

HISSIN50 · Sep 27, 2005

mo_dingo said:
refresh my memory, is the main hub nut torqued to something crazy or does it have a castle nut with a cotter pin and it's torqued tight, then backed off? I don't remember. And if you don't know, then you need to check it because there is a rating for that main hub nut and you may have screwed something up.
Scott

Scott, thank you for clearing up/asking about that (I had wondered the same). I think your confusion comes from foxes vs SN's - the foxes use a TINY torque spec on the castle nut (that might be where that component of your recollection came from).

I had once read in Haynes the same insane SN spec for bearing torquing (a la front-wheel-drive axles, if you ask me) and wondered if it was a typo. I guess not. With that sort of torque, I would want some real quality bearings.

meyers2211 · Sep 28, 2005

What might i look for if the caliper was hung?

speedytang · Sep 28, 2005

Your on the right track to start with. The modern hub assy units have a torque angle load that is very small percentage. For every 1/10" you extend the wheel your increasing the load by 55 ftlbs. I have been down this road with my late model Corvettes with the same bearing assy. style. Corvette owners even purchase extra units to keep in the car so they can be replaced when on the road. The only solution is using TRW Heavy Duty units if they make them for the Mustang which they do for the Vette. The increase of torque side load is 45% and I have been autocrossing and drag racing with these units 3 years and the stock units with my rim offset would only last 4-6 months. A light rim and tire on the front usually allows the unit to have a longer life so your spacer must really be modifing the load rating.

wildmandave · Sep 29, 2005

meyers2211 said:
What might i look for if the caliper was hung?

Cheak the rotor for excessive wear, scoring, or turning blue from excessive heat(from the brake riding the rotor and not releasing).

HISSIN50 · Sep 29, 2005

meyers2211 said:
What might i look for if the caliper was hung?

In addition to Dave's good reply, when the front is in the air, try to spin both wheels with the same force and not how many revolutions you get. When they hang up good, one side will spin like poop.

If you have the wheel off, you can pull the pads and put the caliper back on and slide it back and forth on the pins and see how well the caliper slides. Many pins have a sacrificial coating on them - when it's gone, it's gone (think of the coating like teflon on your kitchen pots - it is not teflon though).

And like Dave said, when one side is dragging, that rotor and assembly will get a LOT hotter if the drag is decent. BE real careful about touching that stuff (an infrared thermometer might be a good idea for testing). I was helping a buddy and did not realize how much the one side was dragging and burned a layer of skin off my finger (we heard it sizzle).

Good luck.

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