Wheel bearing checks specs

Should warrant checkers have a list of the type of wheel bearings in vehicles?

I have a Fiat Uno and the rear wheel bearings are sealed ones. They are secured with a 160 lb ft torque nut which is staked. Does that affect how much play is safe when there is no noise for the bearing?

I read sealed bearings should have no play, but adjustable ones can have some. Therefore should the warrant checkers know which are which?

I have been struggling to measure the play which seems to be about

0.25mm or 0.3 mm at the rim. I mean to measure it better, but at the moment I feel that the wheel with the lesser play was rejected, the other said to be marginal. But maybe both are unsafe for sealed bearings? They do not have noise or roughness but without the brake drum on they do not continue to spin.
Reply to
Brian Sandle
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The message from Brian Sandle contains these words:

What's a "Warrant checker"?

Reply to
Guy King

A small amount of play is perfectly in order with a fixed adjustment bearing like this. Ideally there will be no play (just). If the wheel bearing is quiet and there is a little play at the rim, then that is quite ok, ignore it.

Without the flywheel effect of brake drum and wheel I would not expect the hub assembly to continue to spin. (the grease is thick and sticky and will slow the bearing quickly)

mrcheerful

Reply to
mrcheerful

Thanks. I suppose that if there is too much play in these dual ball races that the balls will get hit a bit harder on bumps. With worn bearings the wheel may attain a greater sideways movement relative to the axle before the bearing suddenly has to arrest that.

Though that must happen with the adjustable bearings, too.

Porters manual says that the Uno sealed bearings usually last a long time. Though this Uno 45 car is 1988 it has only done 75,000 Km. It has not done much hard cornering, or indeed a great deal of cornering at all in its last 40,000. I thought I had read that the Uno 60s will wear out wheel bearings faster as they are the same bearings on a more powerful car.

If the break had once been rubbing and so heating the bearing would it have spoiled the lubrication and increase wear? If the grease had come out then the bearing would be very noisy, I suppose.

Does extra torque on the securing nut deform a sealed bearing at all? Would even the 160 lb ft in Haynes be squeezing the bearing enough to make it overheat and wear?

Reply to
Brian Sandle

No. The securing nut simply holds it in place - it has no effect on the play. Adjustable bearings have the nut done up only finger tight.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

NOt unusual for them to die from corrosion when they get old

yes & yes but you'd notice the smell

Nope, it crushes the solid centre, you'd be trying to deform it without stripping the threads. NOt mounting it properly/cleanly/distorted hub might but 15yr's doen't sound unreasonable.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

so I guess read MOT tester

Steve the grease

Reply to
R L Driver

The message from "R L Driver" contains these words:

Ah, right.

As far as I know they don't have a list of allowable play, they just waggle it and if it waggles too far they fail it.

Reply to
Guy King

Yes the bottoms of the doors are a problem, and check near the hatchback hinges. But here with no salt on the road there are quite a few goodies around.

Though I am low Kms.

Reply to
Brian Sandle

Not taking account of whether it is sealed bearing or adjustable?

Now I wonder if I could jack up the wheel and lower it slightly again on to a long socket extension lying on the floor pointing backwards. Then when I rock the wheel that would rotate and the driver would act as a pointer for play measure. I would tape a long pointer stick to the driver to make the movement easier to measure.

I am hoping to get the subjectivity out of it a bit. Worth it?

Reply to
Brian Sandle

The message from Brian Sandle contains these words:

Probably not. Is it whining or droning? If not I wouldn't worry.

Reply to
Guy King

Err yeah, I meant the wheel bearings, when the seals get old moisture gets in.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

snag is you also need to get the play in the bushes out of it as well.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

Bottom of the doors go because often the window sealing strip (that rubs against the wind up side windows) shrinks or is short to start with. Rain, driven by the slipstream, moves rearward to the door upright, then is forced down through the gap, and sprays around the unpainted lock area, before draining into the bottom of the door, where it capillaries into the door seam, as well as staying static in the not well ventilated door cavity.

Reply to
ato_zee

It seems wheel bearing play is the same on every axis of the wheel. Without applying much force there is a small movement which stops with a gentle knock.

I loosely clamped about a 1 metre stick to the wheel with an F clamp. I wobbled the wheel (rear) with hands at 3 and 9 o`clock. The left wheel showed 2 mm movement at the end of the stick, and the right wheel showed 1 mm, approx.

For a 13 inch wheel that must give about 0.13mm play for the left and 0.07mm for the right. I did not use enough force to distort the tire and change the reading.

Thanks for all the comments. Anyone prepared to give comparative data?

Reply to
Brian Sandle

Thanks everyone for the help. I went back to see the supervisor and he said the bearing is not rough at all and gave me the warrant.

Interesting that the left bearing has worn more than the right. We drive on the left side of the road here, maybe there are more bumps. Or is it that that side brake was grabbing for a bit? I think it may have been, overheating the seal. I better keep a watch on it. However that would have been before the previous warrant, even two back. I do not do much in this car, about 5000 km/year.

Reply to
Brian Sandle

The message from Brian Sandle contains these words:

Quite likely. We've a town here called Milton Keynes where almost every junction is a roundabout. Front left wheelbearings and tyres and shock absorbers go first.

Reply to
Guy King

'Ball' type bearings don't really wear. The tracks are case hardened, and any 'wear' soon results in total failure. I'd guess you're just seeing production tolerances.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

That's interesting.

In my answer to distinguishing between bearing play and bush play before, I meant to mention that I think the bush play would still show when the brake is on. At least the bearing play disappears with brake on.

Now I am wondering if anyone will do my stick test with new sealed bearings installed.

I wonder if any cars will have various microphones about various places, The knock sensor is sort of one. But I am thinking of near exhaust pipe, each accessible bearing or equipment like water pump, wheel bearings, cam belt & sprocket, with a sort of voice recognition computer deciding if things are out of tolerance.

Reply to
Brian Sandle

If the housing the bearing is in has any play, you're in trouble, as it will get worse. Of course the play disappears with the brake on - the backplate is rigid.

There is some clearance in all bearings, and this will vary slightly in this non critical application between samples.

More likely that will give trouble than the part it's meant to be protecting.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

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