Rear wheel wobble.

[pwhoever]

I know you, @ROAD DOG, highly recommended the Advance Auto hubs but I broke down and ordered the Moogs from Rock Auto. I looked at the Advance Auto ones and they are now over $90 each and the Moogs, I bought both for the same price almost. I have had very good luck with Moog parts before and couldn't beat the price. I went with the regular inventory choice instead of the wholesale inventory because of the better warranty and it was a difference of only $9 to get 3 year warranty over the 90 day one.

The hubs are set to get here Wed but I decided to jump in and at least remove the old ones for further inspection. One tip I might add is to get both sides jacked up in the beginning, get the brakes locked and loosen the shaft nut most of the way. It will make the process a lot smoother. And the 3 mounting bolts are on there really tight. I used a 1/2" socket wrench with a T55 bit. I tried my impact wrench (which isn't the greatest) first but they wouldn't budge. With my socket wrench and a 3 foot bar attached to it, they came off with no problem. There seemed to be a bit of grease on the shaft splines which made the shaft just slide right out of the hub. The whole process was easy peasy...

Now when I was working on removing the right hub, there was an odd burnt like smell and it was pretty strong. The left side didn't seem to have that. Once both hubs were off, I compared both and there is a definite issue with the right and could feel it while turning. The left one still was quiet and smooth. Back to the right one, there wasn't any wobble and I think I could have gotten some more mileage out of it but at the cost of ride quality. I took the right hub and when shaking it, I could feel something rattling around in there. When shaking the left, no such noise. I also pried the bearing covers off both as I'm replacing them anyway. On the left one, most of the bearings I could see had a yellowish discolored appearance. The left ones were still bright and shiny silver colored. Both sides did seem to have plenty of grease but I didn't check the inner bearings. I'm just glad I found this thread to point me in the right direction.

Here are photos of what I found. The first one is the right side and second is the left.

 

[pwhoever]

....While your there with the wheels off check to see if your rear shock is leaking on the shaft near the body of the shock ?

I did look on both sides and the shock looks ok. There is a "shelf" underneath and it's bone dry so I think I'm good on this at least. I couldn't quite see the shaft because of the long tightly wound spring though.

 

[Jack Klarich]

You would be surprised at how many of these bearings I have replaced under warranty, I had one bearing fail right after installation before I even got the vehicle to the alignment rack

 

[ROAD DOG]

All done. I was able to track down the original wheel bearing hub by the part number and it was a Moog hub for a 97 Chevy Cavalier. CSC sells them for $70, Rock Auto cost me $35. I'm assuming the rotor is probably for the same vehicle?

Rotors Are not The same . we could never find any to match up.

 

[ROAD DOG]

I removed the seal off the back of the new bearings to make sure they had grease in them, they did, I have seen new bearings with verry little grease .

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Just to be sure

So just to be sure, the hub and bearing assembly is from a 97 Chevy Cavalier front hub correct?

 

[Jack Klarich]

So just to be sure, the hub and bearing assembly is from a 97 Chevy Cavalier front hub correct?

That is correct

 

[pwhoever]

My new hubs will be here tomorrow and I am just trying to find out as much as I can before I have to install them. I have watched countless YouTube videos to find out the torque values for the hub mounting bolts and most of them say look up the specs online which I have tried and they are all over the place. I did see on one to torque them to 70 ft lbs. Does this sound correct? One thing I found unusual is that just about everyone recommends a T55 bit for removing them and it actually worked well. But these are actually hex bolts and after removing, I found that a 10mm hex bit fits perfectly. And it also appears that there is a difference for 97 and before and then 98 on up. Finding the torque values for the shaft nut are just as bad. The best I found is 185 ft lbs but @ROAD DOG mentions to go to 200 ft lbs. That's only a 15 lbs difference. Thoughts? I did have to purchase a new torque wrench as mine would only go up to 150 ft lbs. I found one on Amazon that was reasonably priced and had really good reviews. So I will be good there.

LEXIVON 1/2-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench 25-250 Ft-Lb/33.9-338.9 Nm (LX-184) https://a.co/6cCry2g

And when removing the old ones, the splines appeared to have a little grease on them. It appears to be just like the Honda Moly grease that gets used to put on the driveshaft splines on a regular GL1800. Should I throw some on the splines during reassembly? None of the videos showed anything being used on the splines.

Finally, should these be installed dry around the mount? Reason I ask is that on one video, it showed the guy using a bunch of anti seize all around the circular opening and on the face. Another guy used some bearing grease doing the same thing. But the vast majority showed putting the new hub on dry. The old ones appeared to be free of any grease or anti seize. My gut says to install dry because all that exposed grease seems like it would just attract more grime. That seems like a bad idea but figured I would ask beforehand.

 

[Jack Klarich]

My new hubs will be here tomorrow and I am just trying to find out as much as I can before I have to install them. I have watched countless YouTube videos to find out the torque values for the hub mounting bolts and most of them say look up the specs online which I have tried and they are all over the place. I did see on one to torque them to 70 ft lbs. Does this sound correct? One thing I found unusual is that just about everyone recommends a T55 bit for removing them and it actually worked well. But these are actually hex bolts and after removing, I found that a 10mm hex bit fits perfectly. And it also appears that there is a difference for 97 and before and then 98 on up. Finding the torque values for the shaft nut are just as bad. The best I found is 185 ft lbs but @ROAD DOG mentions to go to 200 ft lbs. That's only a 15 lbs difference. Thoughts? I did have to purchase a new torque wrench as mine would only go up to 150 ft lbs. I found one on Amazon that was reasonably priced and had really good reviews. So I will be good there.

LEXIVON 1/2-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench 25-250 Ft-Lb/33.9-338.9 Nm (LX-184) https://a.co/6cCry2g

And when removing the old ones, the splines appeared to have a little grease on them. It appears to be just like the Honda Moly grease that gets used to put on the driveshaft splines on a regular GL1800. Should I throw some on the splines during reassembly? None of the videos showed anything being used on the splines.

Finally, should these be installed dry around the mount? Reason I ask is that on one video, it showed the guy using a bunch of anti seize all around the circular opening and on the face. Another guy used some bearing grease doing the same thing. But the vast majority showed putting the new hub on dry. The old ones appeared to be free of any grease or anti seize. My gut says to install dry because all that exposed grease seems like it would just attract more grime. That seems like a bad idea but figured I would ask beforehand.

Clean the inside bore and mounting face, apply a light coat of bearing grease in the knuckle, 185 on the Axle nut, 70 ft lbs on bearing bolts

 

[ROAD DOG]

Not arguing hear Will from CSC tell me the axle nut 200 But at that rate what's the difference 185 - 200 , My hub bearings bolts I torqued at 45 . I used a allen socket . I always put never seize on the axle splines and around knuckle were the bearing goes in, everybody does it there way. Thats mine

 

[pwhoever]

Not arguing hear Will from CSC tell me the axle nut 200 But at that rate what's the difference 185 - 200 , My hub bearings bolts I torqued at 45 . I used a allen socket .

Hopefully I didn't come off argumentative either, I had just come across conflicting although minor differences. Just trying to get all my ducks in a row before the reassembly. Thanks

 

[ROAD DOG]

Hopefully I didn't come off argumentative either, I had just come across conflicting although minor differences. Just trying to get all my ducks in a row before the reassembly. Thanks

NO NO I didnt mean that. Talk to 20 different people you get 25 different story's, Do what you think is right make sure everything is torqued & your good to go.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Ask Will???

Maybe email Will @CSC and see what he says on the torque specs?

 

[pwhoever]

Maybe email Will @CSC and see what he says on the torque specs?

Too late. I got it done. I ended up doing 70 ft lbs on the mounting bolts and 185 ft lbs on the shaft nut. I just felt 45 ft lbs on the mounting bolts wasn't going to be enough. I used the Honda Moly 60 on the splines because that what gets used for the Honda driveshaft splines and then used some bearing grease on part of the face of the knuckle and around rhe hole. The only hitch was one of the caliper bolts. It started off fine but then got real tight and I was worried I was cross threading it. I pulled it out and saw it needed some cleaning up so I hit it with some brake cleaner and a wire brush. That did the trick. I did do the brake cleaner and wire brush on all the mounting bolts because they were obvious in needing to be cleaned up but the caliper bolts except for one were all good.

I got it out for a quick ride and she's fixed! Woo-hoo! Big difference! No high speed vibration anymore. She's ready for the trip down to South Eastern Missouri next week. Very happy I saw this thread and found out what the problem was. The job was actually one of the more easy ones I've had to do. Next up is checking the valve clearances. Hopefully I can find the time before I leave next Wed to get that done too...

 

[ROAD DOG]

The reason I went 45 ft pds going into a aluminum knuckle I was afraid of ripping the threads out of the aluminum at 70 pounds I also used a little blue lock Tite .

 

[pwhoever]

The reason I went 45 ft pds going into a aluminum knuckle I was afraid of ripping the threads out of the aluminum at 70 pounds I also used a little blue lock Tite .

Oops, I knew I forgot something, the lock tite, but I really don't want to dive back in there again. Hopefully going with the 70 ft lbs will be enough on its own. I will keep an eye on it and see how it works out. I think I should be fine but have to remember this if I need to do this again.