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Thread: Play in wheel bearings?

  1. #1
    Senior Member phileas_fogg's Avatar
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    Play in wheel bearings?

    Hi all,

    Now that I've mounted tires to rims and installed the completed wheels on the car, I notice what appears to be play in the wheel bearings. That is to say, when I shove on the top and bottom of each wheel, the rim moves ever so slightly. The fronts are worse than the rear, but all four wheels seem to move.

    The front components are the standard MKIV spindles and hubs F5 provides as part of the complete kit. These hubs slid smoothly onto the spindle with a moderate shove to overcome the initial resistance.

    The rear components are Ford Racing (M-5970-A) Steering Knuckles and Ford Racing M-1109-A Independent Rear Suspension Hubs provided by Mike Forte when I bought his Thuderbird IRS package. These hubs had to be pressed onto the spindles.

    CraigS came by yesterday and he reports "At the front, as he [John] moved the tire/wheel by gripping top and bottom, I could feel the rotor move slightly in relation to the caliper. Also there was a definite click,click feel to the movement. It felt exactly like Fox wheel bearings that need another 1/4 turn on the nut. At the rear, we could see the wheel move, but there was no click,click. That could be the rubber bushings in the knuckle because I wasn't able to find an individual spot where something moved in relation to something stationary."

    I have double-checked the torque on the one-time nuts securing the hubs to the spindles; they're solid. I have also torqued the lug nuts. All suspension bolts are torqued.

    I also tried to wiggle the rotor from behind the wheel (with the lug nuts torqued). There's no movement there at all.

    So now I'm stumped. Anybody got any ideas?


    John
    MK IV Roadster #8631
    Ford 302, Holley Terminator EFI, T5z, 3.55 Rear End, IRS, 17” Halibrand Replicas (9” front, 10.5” rear), Nitto 555 G2’s (275/40ZR17 front, 315/35ZR17 rear), Fast Freddie’s Power Steering, F5 Wilwood Brakes, FFMetal’s Firewall Forward, Forte’s Hydraulic Clutch & Throttle Linkage
    https://www.ffcars.com/threads/phile.../#post-4776313

  2. #2
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    A few thou wouldn't scare me, bearings will warm up and expand. I'll have to put a jack under mine and see if there is any play at all. I presume they are packed well with grease. Big Healey's have a spacer and shim set up for front wheel bearings and ideally they are set for about two thou of play if I remember correctly.

  3. #3
    Senior Member phileas_fogg's Avatar
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    Hi Pete,

    A couple of thousandths measured from where?


    John
    MK IV Roadster #8631
    Ford 302, Holley Terminator EFI, T5z, 3.55 Rear End, IRS, 17” Halibrand Replicas (9” front, 10.5” rear), Nitto 555 G2’s (275/40ZR17 front, 315/35ZR17 rear), Fast Freddie’s Power Steering, F5 Wilwood Brakes, FFMetal’s Firewall Forward, Forte’s Hydraulic Clutch & Throttle Linkage
    https://www.ffcars.com/threads/phile.../#post-4776313

  4. #4
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    Hi John, I checked mine last night and there is no play in either front or rear bearings. If I remember correctly, I think you also have the 94 TBird rear IRS as I do. My rear hubs probably have 120k miles on them. I just packed with fresh grease, and when pressed back together using the old axle shaft and nut, there wasn't any play at all. My memory is already foggy on the FF front spindle set up, I thought it was typical castle nut and tapered bearings. If so, Be sure the tabbed washer is under the nut, and any play should be able to be adjusted out. If a bearing race was not perfectly seated during manufacture, it may have seated with weight and rolling the car resulting in some play now.
    You would need a magnetic base and a dial indicator to check in/out measurement. Base on the hub, dial indicator on axle shaft for front. Base on hub, dial indicator on a part of the bearing housing as close to bearing as possible on rear.
    Setting up rear bearing hubs on rear Triumph TR6 IRS also calls for .002" end play, that is where my thinking comes from as reference for a limit.

  5. #5
    Senior Member phileas_fogg's Avatar
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    Thanks Pete. It'll take a while to disassemble everything to get the measurement you describe. As a poor man's substitute I used a dial indicator to measure the amount of play at the rim. I've got 0.030-0.040" at the edge of the rim just before the lip. The rim is 18" lip to lip. Assuming a 2" diameter bearing, that means I've got 1/9 of the measured play, or ~0.004". Does this seem excessive?

    I measured two ways. First, base was secured to frame with indicator tip at upper rim:

    IMG_3655 by jhsitton, on Flickr

    Second, base was on floor with indicator tip at lower rim:

    IMG_3656 by jhsitton, on Flickr


    John
    Last edited by phileas_fogg; 08-06-2017 at 05:09 PM.
    MK IV Roadster #8631
    Ford 302, Holley Terminator EFI, T5z, 3.55 Rear End, IRS, 17” Halibrand Replicas (9” front, 10.5” rear), Nitto 555 G2’s (275/40ZR17 front, 315/35ZR17 rear), Fast Freddie’s Power Steering, F5 Wilwood Brakes, FFMetal’s Firewall Forward, Forte’s Hydraulic Clutch & Throttle Linkage
    https://www.ffcars.com/threads/phile.../#post-4776313

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