Wobble - Front Wheel Bearing and Races?

[PeteinSF]

OK,

I have some "wobble" that starts at a very slow speed. I had everything inspected with out finding a clear cause. The "wobble" is at a 1 RPM rate and happens mostly after a tight turn (like a u-turn).

When I adjusted the front wheel bearings the symptoms lessened so I figured swapping the bearings and races could not hurt and would eliminate one of the possible problems.

As I was performing this I did notice a slight high spot on the driver's side as I spun the wheel. After removing the bearing and races i did not see or feel anything wrong with them.

After the swap it feels much better but still occurs but more noticeable at 35MPH+.


Very straightforward job, I did have the new seats installed at the local machine shop although I have seen this done on youtube by putting the races in the freezer and them tapping them in with the right sized round item.


Getting the old races out was hard until the spindle was placed on a solid metal table. The flat ground was too soft and nothing would move.



Took about 5 hours...


Here are some pictures...

[magnakansas]

The neatest thing I learned about taking out a bearing race that I know i will not re use is using a welder...... run a heavy bead on the race all the way around...... allow the bead to cool and then cool it with water.... usually pretty much will fall out.... the weld bead shinks when it cools takes up enough that the races will fall out... heavy bead and slow cool till it get to about 300 degrees and then you can use water to cool it..... I will set a race on dry ice to chill it.... if I can get it... liquid nitrogen.... have to use gloves, have to work quickly and you cannot use a hammer at all......if you are fortunate enough to get the liquid nitrogen.... often the race will fall into the bore. gloves are a must. heating a hub in an oven to 300 degrees helps too...... but not many of us have an oven that we can heat parts.... those big kerosene heaters can do that to.....

death wobbles.... Slop in the king pins, tie rods, and drag links are common causes...... fitting steering damper can help. does not take much to cause the problem....... jack the wheel off the ground and hand at 12 and 6 see how much you can get the wheel to move and do it again at 3 and 9.....

one band aid for this is to set more toe out..... keeps the wheels pulling out against each other.... wears tires faster and uses up fuel and power

[Dead pirate]

Maybe the races didn't set. I doubt the spindle was deformed but who knows. Since it happens at several different speeds I'm thinking a tire out of balance. That wobble could be explained by a tire out of balance or a broken steel belt.

[harleydoug]

Do you have anti-lock brakes?? Sometimes if the tires are not matched or equally worn, the anti-lock will attempt to slow one wheel to match the speed of the other one. Try swapping the tires from left to right and see if anything gets better or worse. I had a new tire on one side and a fairly usable tire on the other, and couldn't fix my wobble and pull to one side until I bought new tires. The anti-lock will pull or wobble to the side with the more worn tire due to it spinning faster.

[Ronnie]

I would use a dial indicator on the hub face, this will tell you if the hub itself is running true.. If that is good then put the wheel back on and see if the rim itself runs true( tire still on the rim is ok) then check tire run out. Tire and rim do not need a dial indicator, just a good ruler and a square.

[cowlitzcoach]

Death wobble is more likely problems with worn out suspension components rather than wheel bearings. That isn't to say that sloppy wheel bearings could contribute to a bad situation making it worse.



Springs that have flattened out so that the spring shackle no longer hangs down, tie rod ends and drag link ends that are sloppy, loose king pins, and a bent front axle can all contribute to death wobble.

[Ronnie]

I was not under the impression that this is death wobble, which is usually quite violent, and unnerving.

So to the OP does this wobble noticeably shake the front end or steering wheel? If so then death wobble it is.

[PeteinSF]

It does shake the steering wheel for sure, but not violently.

I stopped at two very large truck stop repair shops on my way from Alabama and had them check everything that was mentioned above. One guy did a quick kingpin check with a pry bar when he had her jacked up, some play was found but he said most operating rigs had what he found in mine.

Also this was most evident at 0-10mph so I did not think kingpin, but this is my first kingpin vehicle (missed the ford model “A” era). Maybe slow wobble is a symptom.

I suspect everything is a bit warn since the bearing helped greatly but did not eliminate the problem. My plan is to replace all the wear suspension items and end up all new and well known in the end. I will do the pins last since it looks to be a pain if the pins don’t want to exit gracefully.

[Ronnie]

Kingpins are best done with a press. Your plan of doing everything else first is a good one based on what the shop said. Did he give you a measurement of play measured at the tire tread? If I remember right here in VA you can have 1/4" max to pass inspection. That is loose to me.

[PeteinSF]

Thanks Ronnie,

I recall it being much less then 1/4in. I’ll do it myself next time I see the bus.

[bluebird90]

What you most likely have is a tire problem. Flat spot, separation, out of ballance, bent rim.

[Dirtdoctor]

First -rims bent, weights out of balance tires- damaged tire, inflation difference poor uneven wear-shocks. Second- bushings and kingpin/ tie rod ends, Bearings would be the last thing I’d look at. Run the beast and take a temp of the hub if your bearings are bad.

[Native]

We had a wobble at 10 MP to 15MPH which we discovered on a trip. I noticed the passenger front tire had a fresh "low" spot which I had not noticed before. We bought new tires and the wobble went away.