"Loose" but tight front wheel

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"Loose" but tight front wheel

Postby mona's k » Wed Apr 27, 2016 9:25 pm

Took the wife's '82 Lebaron to a shop for a oil change and they did a free safety inspection. They found that the right front driver's side wheel had a slight wobble when you grabbed the top and bottom of the tire and wiggled it back and forth. They mentioned that it looked like it had a new CV boot and it may be related to the installation of that. The car did have a slight wiggle in the steering wheel that I blamed on the cheap tires the previous owner installed.

About 3 years ago I did have a new boot and axle put in as the old boot was ripped and the mechanic said water had gotten inside. Got home, jacked the car up, and thought I would just tighten the nut in case that was loose. The nut is tight and so far in that the cap that the cotter key goes through isn't even touching the cotter key. The nut appears to be as far down on the threads as it will go and can't be tightened any further yet the wheel is still loose. Can I add some spacers/washers in front of the nut to give more threads to tighten down?

I would take it back to the shop where I had it fixed but the owner died about 2 years ago and the shop closed up.
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Re: "Loose" but tight front wheel

Postby Kwagon2 » Thu Apr 28, 2016 12:54 pm

Hi
The Looseness is not due to the axle/CV joint installation...I wanted to include a diagram but this board tells me that some "quota" has been reached... but anyhow, the hub assembly to which the axle/CV is bolted is pressed into a bearing which in turn is firmly seated in the steering knuckle.Its also retained by a plate that bolts to the knuckle. The brake rotor is sandwiched between the Hub and the Wheel. Bearing looseness indicates significant bearing wear so replacement is required.
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Re: "Loose" but tight front wheel

Postby mona's k » Thu Apr 28, 2016 5:49 pm

Is replacing the bearing similar to replacing a front wheel bearing on a rear wheel drive car (i.e. relatively easy)?

As far as a "quota" I went from something like 30 posts down to 2????
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Re: "Loose" but tight front wheel

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:08 pm

No, it is not similar and not relatively easy. The rear wheel bearings on your K-car are easy and very similar to front wheel bearing on a rear wheel drive car. The front wheel drive K car front bearings are permanently lubricated bearings that come in hub assemblies and are pressed and maybe bolted into the knuckles. I think you have to pull the axle out. Buy good quality name brand USA made bearing and hub assemblies. The labor time is not worth it to put in potentially low quality parts.

The bearing could have just gone bad with age/use (most go about 100K) or the seal on the end might be no good allowing dirt/water to get inand it got contaminated, or it might have got damaged from running into the curb too many times or from a rough replacement when the axle was pulled for the CV joint boot repair.
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Re: "Loose" but tight front wheel

Postby mona's k » Sun Jul 09, 2017 6:37 pm

Got new tires for the car. Tire place said both front wheel bearings are bad and gave me an estimate of about $300.00 to fix and another estimate from another shop was about $275.00 due to the labor involved because you have to "press"(?) the bearings out. Decided when summer is over to take care of this problem.

Rock Auto has wheel hub assemblies for $20.00-40.00 and it looks like this has the bearing already in it. Is this a lot easier (i.e. home mechanic level) to do than the other way of pressing the bearing in/out?
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Re: "Loose" but tight front wheel

Postby Kwagon2 » Sun Jul 09, 2017 10:57 pm

Hi
Replacing the front wheel bearing still requires that the bearing be pressed out of the spindle assembly, the Hub and bearing units that you mention only saves you one step and that's pressing the hub itself out of the bearing! I personally prefere to install the bearing in the spindle first and then the retainer and then the hub.

The spindle itself stays on the car attached to the strut, the lower control arm is released from the spindle as is the tie rod end, the CV joint (Rzeppa joint) is pulled back out of the bearing/spindle ,once the retaining nut is removed (usually loosened prior to jacking car up).
The inner running seal is removed from the spindle , the brake caliper and adapter are removed from the spindle then the rotor. Using Chrysler tool kit C-4811-A or equivalent press out the hub , then remove the bearing retainer plate (three cap screws) , press out the bearing. Reverse the steps for installation, use a new inner seal , check wear ring on the Rzeppa joint and lubricate prior to installation in Hub re-secure lower control arm etc.
C-4811-A tool kit is made to be installed on the spindle to facilitate bearing replacement without spindle removal which saves the need to re-aline the front wheels as you need to remove the camber bolt in order to accomplish spindle removal . Leaving the spindle on the car speeds up the job and reduces time and steps. I'm sure the aftermarket has come up with an equivalent to C-4811.
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