Front Wheel Bearing - Which side from the sound?

[DOCTORBILL]

I posted the engine change question on 10/20, but now have a brand new question (problem).

I am getting a louder (by the day) howling or "Road Noise" sound from
the front end of my '93 Metro 2 door hatchback 3 cyl 1 L.
158,000 on the vehicle.

The sound is loud now at 60 mph and gets louder when I come to
a right turn curve.

The sound goes away on a left hand turn curve.

Same thing on turns if I take it out of gear and coast.

WHEEL BEARING GOING OUT......

Question is - is it the right or left wheel?

NAPA guy says it is the right wheel bearing since it gets louder on
a right turn at speed and goes away on the left turn.

A mechanic friend says the same.

Are they correct? $100 for the two sealed bearings and the oil seal.
ONE WHEEL ! $100! Yow! Thought I'd save the $150 labor....

Anyway, I have the car front end on jack stands, the right wheel off
and the caliper off. Now I have to figure out how to remove the
STEERING KNUCKLE using my Chilton Manual - which is non too
good at explaining it.

So - I await someone who can confirm either the right or left wheel
as asked above. I'll continue in 8 hours tomorrow in the daytime.
Don't want to do all this for THE WRONG WHEEL!

If this isn't too traumatic, I may do the left wheel just so I can feel
this won't happen again soon.

Hope I don't need any special tools!

DoctorBill (too old to be doing this stuff!)

[metrompg.com]

i had a wheel bearing go in my car this spring.

in my car the noise also got louder in a right turn and went away in a left turn. or on "slalom run" - that was my favourite test.

it was the LEFT (driver's side) wheel bearing that was bad.

which makes sense if you think about it.

when you turn right, weight transfer loads up the left side wheels and unweights the right side wheels. the added load on the wheel bearing makes it louder. in a left turn, the opposite happens - you unload the bad wheel bearing, and it spins more quietly.

i don't know if you got this in time (it's more than 8 hours...) so i hope you changed the correct bearing!

[DOCTORBILL]

Nope! I took the other two guy's advice and went for the right
side.....

Turned out to be fine... Now it is too late.

I got the spindle nut off with GREAT DIFFICULTY (they hammer it down
on one side), got the housing off the three things holding it, and
now I cannot get the bearings out of the spindle housing!

I got the spindle out by hammering on a socket wrench of just the right
size to match the spindle. It came out - rusty and needing light
sanding with emery cloth.

The spindle housing holding the two bearings and spacer between will
not release the bearing races! Tried hammering with a wood stick the
diameter of the hole - nothing. Ruined the bearings. I then hammered
on the edges with a 1.5 inch steel rod, but they WILL NOT MOVE!

So I suppose I have to take them to a machine shop or auto repair
shop with an Arbor Press and have them forced out that way....

Then I'll emery cloth out any rust and crap until I can slide the
bearings back into the cylinderical hole. I was told all these should
slide in w/o requiring a press! HA!!!! B**LS**T!

Be a good reason to buy a cheap Arbor Press......

So, now when I am done with the right side I'll also do the left side.
Already bought another set of bearings.

The one bearing seal is odd however. Didn't match what NAPA came
up with. I'll have to see about getting a correct one.

Wish I had seen your post before starting on the right side.

DoctorBill PS - Doing this to save $225... We'll see.....

[metrompg.com]

Originally Posted by DOCTORBILL

So I suppose I have to take them to a machine shop or auto repair shop with an Arbor Press and have them forced out that way....

that's what i ended up doing with mine. i gave it to a friend who has a press at work and he pressed out the old bearing and put the new one in for me.

good luck!

[DOCTORBILL]

I got the knuckles off, but had to ruin the tie rod end ball joints to
do so. I felt bad - dumb.

Turns out a mechanic said that it is normal to have to ruin the
tie rod ball joint to remove it......!

A local car repair said they'd press the bearings out and press the new
ones in for $10 each knuckle! Two other places wanted $20 each and
$25 each!

What a job! The cost for parts is wretched!
$200 for the bearings, seals and spindle nuts.
$50 for the tie rod ball joints.
$20 for pressing the bearings out.
Probably $60 for a wheel alignment.

$330 and I did the job myself!

W/o the proper tools, forget it.

DoctorBill

[Crvett69]

you can take the tie rods end off without hurting them, you just take nut off and give the parts rods end goes through a few good wacks with a hammer, if you ever need to do other work like that you can bring it up to bellingham and will help you with it. i have most of the tools and a press to do stuff like that

[DOCTORBILL]

I DID beat the Hell out of the Tie rod's threaded ends getting them out
since the "fork" tool wouldn't release them - it only destroyed the
rubber boots! But hammering the ends of the bolts screwed up the bolt ends too.

The wheel bearings had to be HAMMERED out of the steering
knuckles, the service guy told me!

They have to come out of each side of the knuckle - they cannot be
pressed out! How the Hell did he do THAT when I couldn't!?

Well - the damned Chilton Manual doesn't tell you that the spacer
sleeve between the two bearings "floats" and can be pushed to one
side! That way one can get a brass drift (rod) dwon on top of the
bearings to hammer them out!

I hate Chilton Manuals...they tell you the bare minimum of information!
They are almost useless at times.

So I am now ready to put the assemblies back together when I have
time from teaching (Chemistry). BUT - it is raining here in Spokane
right now, also....

DoctorBill

[Crvett69]

you beat on side of part threaded part of tie rod end goes through. if you do that and don't hit threads or use fork they will pop out with no damage

[DOCTORBILL]

First I whacked on the threaded end to force it out. Nothing.

Next I used the Fork Tool and it cut the oil filled rubber boot around
the ball joint..... NO WAY to use that tool w/o destroying the boot.
No luck there!

So I went back to reefing on the threaded end with a hammer.
Used penetrating oil. Zip.
The rod was becoming bent from whacking on it!

Finally after much HARD bashing, the rod came out.

By then the rubber boot had been cut and oil was dripping out.
Had to be replaced.

Those tie rod ends were probably Original Equipment and had never
been touched from day one. Manufacurers should coat the rod ends
with some non-sieze compound so repairs are easier. Water gets in
there and corrodes and welds the metal together.

If your's came out easy, then *you* were blessed and/or lucky.

Now I have to reef on the nut used to tighten the tie rod to the
steering rod. It is not moving no matter what I do!
Probably needs the torch and beating on it to break it loose!
Every nut and bold on this Metro is frozen in place! Penetrating oil
can't even get in there.....

BTW - this car was from Montana where it was in snow/water/ice
and salt a lot and you know the rest.

DoctorBill

[Crvett69]

i have taken many out the way i described, you don't beat on any part of the tie rod, you hit the part the tie rod end attaches to, use a 3 pound small sledge or a brass hammer. hit the side of the knuckle the tie rod end passes through, tie rod end will pop loose, may take a few hits but it works and you don't ruin the tie rod or boot by beating on threads or top of tie rod

[DOCTORBILL]

OK.

I now have to remove the tie rod ends. The end nuts holding them tight
is frozen in place and hard to put any torque on to loosen.

I have zapped it with penetrating oil for a few days now while I work
and can't get at the car. It has started to rain now, so I can look
forward to doing this in the rain all weekend.

In your experience, how can I get the lock nut loose on those tie rod ends.
I was thinking of placing a big hammer up against it and bashing it
on the other side with a second hammer. Maybe heating it with a
torch also. I can't get much room to reef on it under the fender.

Possible big problem - the tie rod ends on the steering rod are rather
long! The replacement tie rod ends are shorter! I hope the steering rod
is screwed quite a ways into the old tie rod end leaving plenty to
compensate for the new shorter tie rod end....
All the tie rod ends that parts places (NAPA and SCHUCKS) show
are short ones for this car. It was made in Canada.....(?)

I am really tired of this job.

DoctorBill

[Crvett69]

the part going in to the rack should have a flat spot to put a wrench on. if everything is still to tight maybe try a pipe wrench on each part. hammer method might help loosen it. if you stall can't get it off you can always remove boot and unscrew inner tie rod end and then put in vise to dissasemble. if you still can't get it apart you might look for a used rack from a wrecking yard or let me know, i have several

[DOCTORBILL]

Thanks for the offer....but

I made what they call a "command decision" in Industry...
I said "F**K it!" and just put the knuckle back together with the
old Tie Rod End (damaged rubber seal and all) on it.

Even in winter here, it should work fine until spring!

It was cold (40 °F) and windy and wet today - so I said "F**K it"
and just reassembled everything. No garage to work in.

No more "road noise". I reefed the spindle nut back on - the fellow
who pressed the bearings in said to make it REALLY tight.
Bent the nut edge flange over to keep it on.

As I was doing this, I had a chance to check my front brake pads
and they are low, so I'll replace them come Monday for $24 a set.

I suppose I should bleed the system since it has probably never had
that done. Odd, the left pads were much more worn than the right side pads. The disks look like they were just replaced.

What a CRAPPY job this was! If you can afford the $150 for the
labor - PAY TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO IT! LORD!!!!!

DoctorBill