C

ClintonP

New Member
I've been through this and other forums in an effort to cure a terrible death wobble at 40-45 mph. I was led to believe it was most likely caused by unbalanced tyres and the mechanic advised putting ball bearings in as the vehicle is for off-roading and conventional balancing would likely knock them off.

Anyway this did nothing so other advice was to increase the pressure in the tyres, which I have done to 36psi and hey presto it disappears and I just feel a bit of vibration.

But looking further, there is a slight movement to the wheel in the 12/6 o clock position which stops when the brake is applied. So this implies a wheel bearing stub axle problem. So i have two questions:

1. What movement is acceptable if any?
2. what do i need to replace to do a proper job rather than a quick fix?

Many thanks
 
welcome to the site...! try the introduce yourself section 1st off.

HOWEVER

1. What movement is acceptable if any? none
2. what do i need to replace to do a proper job rather than a quick fix?, 2 bearings, possibly seals, possibly new nuts if theyve been chisled before, new lock plate washer thing and about half an hour of your time...really easy job

you could do a search on hear or this website iv heard about called google, loads of info/videos around, oh and haynes manual
 
Hi Paul,

sorry for the lack of etiquette and thanks very much for the advice.

I have actually done a lot of googling and reading before posting my question including reading what is available within the RAVE manual. Where I fall down is knowing what is accurate and what the tolerances are being new to this in general. With the best will in the world, on forums, opinions are like aresholes, everyone's got one.
 
yep, TBH, rave is pretty good, but nothing is better than experience so get the tool kit out and get cracking, if you put up a location in your user profile maybee somebody local could offer help..
 
Did he explain the logic as to how ball bearings inside your wheel would balance it? The only thing I can see them doing is making a lot if noise!

I'm not trying to be wide btw, just genuinely interested to see what the logic behind the idea was.

Cheers mark
 
You'll enjoy you're first wheel bearing. Hope so, anyway, 'cos you've got plenty more in the future. Paul Mitchell is right, you need to do a proper job, and get it right. Enjoy
 
Thanks very much all of you for your friendly advice and as you all say there's nothing like letting stuck in.

Apparently the ball bearings under centrifugal forces spin to the outside of the inner tyre and balance it out... I've not seen anything else about it and they haven't worked because I don't think it's just the balancing that will be causing this.

I do have a small amount of play in the stub axle so will be looking there first.

cheers
 
another tell tale sign is braking, if you brake and pedal is soft then release and push again and its tight (or in usual place) then its usually a bearing as 1st push pulls it back to where it should be 2nd push is braking as normal..
 
ClintonP said:
Thanks very much all of you for your friendly advice and as you all say there's nothing like letting stuck in.

Apparently the ball bearings under centrifugal forces spin to the outside of the inner tyre and balance it out... I've not seen anything else about it and they haven't worked because I don't think it's just the balancing that will be causing this.

I do have a small amount of play in the stub axle so will be looking there first.

cheers
Click to expand...

It sounds to me more like swivel bearings than wheels bearing is your problem.

Wheel bearings allow the wheel to rotate, whereas swivel bearings allow the front wheels to pivot left and right.

Swivel bearings are located in the swivel ball, just inside each front wheel. Wear in these bearings can cause instability and vibration, as well as the 12 o' clock/6 o' clock play.

Dave
 
thebiglad said:
It sounds to me more like swivel bearings than wheels bearing is your problem.

Wheel bearings allow the wheel to rotate, whereas swivel bearings allow the front wheels to pivot left and right.

Swivel bearings are located in the swivel ball, just inside each front wheel. Wear in these bearings can cause instability and vibration, as well as the 12 o' clock/6 o' clock play.

Dave
Click to expand...
hm but applying brake stops movement
 
It's all good advice, Are the Swivel bearings something that a novice can look at?

Interestingly it was suggested to me that it could have been a bent wheel which was surprising as i hadn't seen that as a common fault on any of the forums that could cause a speed wobble. So I swapped them for a mate's wheels and it's got rid of the speed wobble..

That doesn't of course mean that there aren't other factors waiting in the wings so I'd be keen to explore changing the swivel bearings.

cheers

Clinton
 
BlakeyP said:
It's all good advice, Are the Swivel bearings something that a novice can look at?

Interestingly it was suggested to me that it could have been a bent wheel which was surprising as i hadn't seen that as a common fault on any of the forums that could cause a speed wobble. So I swapped them for a mate's wheels and it's got rid of the speed wobble..

That doesn't of course mean that there aren't other factors waiting in the wings so I'd be keen to explore changing the swivel bearings.

cheers

Clinton
Click to expand...


Hi Clinton, changing swivel bearings is a cheap and straightforward job to do. Obviously you do both sides at the same time.

Here's a kit to do each side:

DA3165P | Swivel Kit - no ball - front axle non ABS from JA032850


and here's an excellent "how to":

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f41/swivel-ball-renewal-63808.html


Good luck

Dave
 
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