So, it wasn't a wheel bearing after all...

[Project Vixen]

Hi All,

For a couple of years, I've had a strange click-howling coming from the right front wheel at times. It's kind of sounded like the old baseball card in the spokes trick... and would happen on turns on when stopping, but only occasionally.

The general consensus was, if there were no signs of anything else rubbing, then it had to be the wheel bearing -- even though they only have 5k miles on them and tested out fine.

I ordered wheel bearings for all four corners, and pulled the hubs today to have the bearings changed. I found the likely culprit wasn't the bearing at all, but one of the spindle plate bolts was loose. Although hard to see in this photo, there is a slight wearing on the head of the bolt, and also on the heads of the hub-to-rotor bolts. My guess is that the loose bolt would occasionally make contact inside the hub, causing the loud noise, until the rotation of the wheel tightened the bolt up slightly, ending the noise.

51879

Thought I would post this up just in case anyone else ever runs across such an issue.

-Dave

[David T]

Stuff like that is impossible to diagnose. The wheel bearing diagnosis was spot-on. It took you right to the area and you found the cause. When digging into a problem you always have to keep an open mind and a sharp eye for things which may also be the problem or were damaged by the suspected problem. My only guess is you said the bearings only have 5K miles on them. I assume you said that because they were replaced. Those bolts must have been touched at that time and not tightened up properly. This is a very unusual problem so it has to be something unique to this car, not the fleet in general.

[Lwanmtr]

Always a good day when you find that a problem is much simpler than expected.

[SS Spoiler]

Had right front brake that would squeak like crazy. Pulled
front wheel and found the spindle nut finger tight!

[Project Vixen]

As it turns out, three of the plate's bolts were finger tight, and likely have been for 17 years. I can see what happened from http://www.projectvixen.com/week10.htm -- I spent so much time dealing with the 1 stuck bolt, that I ignored the other three on reassembly. :facepalm:

Still, it held on fine -- probably mostly due to the one extra-long bolt with a nut on it. I might do that on the other side 'just because'.

Hoping to get in a test drive later today.

[Project Vixen]

And... the test drive was fine. No odd noises.

Vixen needs a bath big time, but then time to drive her a bit.

[DMC5180]

Great to here Dave. How are things going for you these days? Haven't heard much from you in a long while.


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[Project Vixen]

Well, not much new. I don't get a chance to do much car stuff these days, but I still enjoy it when I can get free.