mark79,80

My 1979 Corvette has 38000 miles and has the original rear wheel bearings.

What are the signs that the rear wheel bearings need replacing?
Type of noise while driving?
Handling of the car?
How to check for excess bearing play?

GTR1999

Jack up the car and grab the tire and move it at 3 & 9 o'clock.
If you have a lot of play, should only be 001-008" I would look closer. Typical factory settings are in the 3-4 range. You will probably find more play at 6 & 12 from the side yokes, The orignals were soft and by 40k miles were worn more them 050"

justanotherdoe

GTR is right on the 3-9 test. I think its the best way to check. My right rear made a sound like crushing gravel when it finally went. The left rear never went beyond a chirp.

Another test is to use an ir gun and check the temperature of the 4 wheel hubs. If your brakes are all good, a bad bearing will be hotter at the hub than the other wheels. The ir check works for ujoints too. A bad joint will be hotter.

yellow 72

"What are the signs that the rear wheel bearings need replacing?"


Rear wheel and tire assembly arrives at destination before remainder of vehicle.....

1Fordman

Gary,
What is the maximum end play at the differential side yokes? I might as well check mine while the ta's are on the way to you for rebuilding.

With my luck it will need attention also!

a1sensei

Wheel bearings tend to roar when they get bad.

God bless, Sensei

scottyp99

If you can hear the rear wheel bearing roaring, you probably need more than a wheel bearing.

I bought my corvette with a bad driver's side rear wheel bearing, it sounded like what a really aggressive off road tire sounds like on the highway. I didn't think replacing a wheel bearing was a big deal, so I bought it.......I can hear you all laughing! Stop it! It's not nice!

Anyway, I was soon to find out that changing a rear wheel bearing was not such an easy thing as on a regular straight axle rearend......STOP LAUGHING! I MEAN IT!

Anyway, I decided to just replace bot compleat trailing arms, and actually couldn't be reimbursed the core charge on the driver's side one, because it was so worn, so check those bearings every once in awhile, don't wait till you can hear 'em.


Scott

hwcoop

Also I would say with 30 year old grease its time to rebuild them

mark79,80

Lately I have been hearing what I thought was excess tire noise, so maybe it its the rear wheel bearings. Will jack the car up and test
the 3 and 9 positions for play as was suggested.

I started looking at what is available, that is either purchasing just the rear wheel bearing assemblies vs. the trailing arms with the bearings, parking brakes and rotor already assembled. If just the bearing assemblies are purchased then the parking brakes need to be installed after the bearing assemblies are mounted on the trailing arms.

For a novice mechanic which is the better approach? I am leaning toward purchasing the complete trailing arm assemblies with rotors that are trued but would like opinions from those who have done this job.

CCrane65

This is not a job for a novice. You need at least one person who is very experienced in trailing arm removal, rebuilds and re-installation.

If you have the bucks, I'd get the ready to install trailing arms. I got mine from eBayer tylersparts. Paid $800 for a pair of ready to install t/a's, shims and pins. Then he sent me $180 back for my rusted worn out trailing arms.

You can save a few hundred if you have your trailing arms rebuilt by them provided they are sound to begin with. No separated seams, rust throughs and not bent.

cc

scottyp99

Well, replacing the trailing arms is a reasonably big job, but you only need a pretty basic set of tools to do it. Any one with a pretty basic mechanical knowledge can do it, with a little patience, and time, and elbow grease. If you've ever swapped a motor, it'll be child's play. If the toughest thing you've ever done on a car is change the oil, ya might wanna let someone else do it. If you can honestly call yourself a "novice mechanic", which to me means you have at least removed a part from a car and replaced it, you should be OK.

No matter what you choose to do, the trailing arms are pretty much going to have to come off the car. I am sure some people will say that is not true, and technically, they are right, but for shadetree mechanics like us, they are gonna have to come off. If you choose to replace the trailing arms with new ones, they will most definately have to come off, how are ya gonna bolt in the new ones unless you unbolt the old ones first? If you choose to replace the wheel bearings on your existing trailing arms, they will have to come off, and either a: be brought to a mechanic who can rebuild the trailing arm, or b: be rebuilt by you in your shop, after the purchase of a few special tools. And when I say rebuilt, that's what I mean, if you go thru all the trouble of removing the trailing arm, just to replace the wheel bearing you are nuts. A third option may be to take it to a shop that does work on corvettes, and they may be able to replace the wheel bearings without removing the trailing arm from the car, and so the job may not end up costing an arm and a leg. It depends on a few different factors, how bad are the trailing arms, how much time do you have, etc.
I'd say, if you are gonna tackle the job yourself, buy new trailing arms, and be advised, once you start removing rear suspension peices, you are definately going to contract a case of the "while-I'm-at-its". I.E.
"Wow, I should really replace the shocks, WIAI" or "Maybe one of those fiberglass rear springs would be really nice, WIAI" or "Wow, the camber strut bushings should really be replaced, WIAI". You see what I mean.

Anyway, good luck, and don't forget, if you get in over your head, just yell! Once we are done laughing at you, we will help all we can!

Scott

Vtechcorvette

To Determine the Condition of 1963-82 Rear Wheel Bearings

1) Raise your Corvette and place 4 jack stands under the frame rails.

2) Disconnect the half shafts and raise the rear wheels to allow the tires to turn freely.

3) Block up the trailing arms to support the rear wheels and spin the rear wheels, while carefully listening for any squeaking or sounds that indicate roughness or binding in the rear wheel bearing assemblies.

4) Remove the rear wheels from the Corvette and position the dial indicator so that the point is perpendicular to the outer wheel rotor surface. If the rivets have been removed be sure to bolt the rotor on with the lug nuts.

5) Measure the movement by carefully prying the rotor (Remove the drum 63 & 64 cars and pry directly on the spindle) outwards with a large flat bladed screwdriver, then by prying inward with the screwdriver placed between the spindle flange and the inside of the trailing arm.

6) If the measurement is less than .008 inch (factory specs), and the rotation of the wheel is very smooth, with no noise or binding, the bearings should be okay. But if your car has over 70,000 miles on it, it is probally time to rebuild the bearings any way.

VictoriaVette

I can feel no play at all when I push and pull 3 & 9 o clock. When I move the cam adjustable bolts to move the camber the play will go away.

lilmonster

I've started to hear a constant chirping sound when giving power,
(chirpchirpchirpchirpchirpchirpchirpchir pchirpchirpchirpchirp)

Would this be from the wheel bearings?

I am also feeling some vibration/sound lately which could also be described as a growling or roaring.

The person i bought it from said it had u-joint problems and i thought these sounds were from that.

Mike Ward

Don't wait for things to go wrong- they usually do at the worst possible time.

40K miles is about when they should be removed and inspected. Even if they are found to be OK, you'll have one less thing to worry about.

GTR1999

If you remove them, replace them.

oram

sounds like a u-joint to me... that's were i look first

mds3013

to lilmonster. I agree on the u-joints. when they start to make noise they normally will show rusty dust around the seal of the bad bearing. look for this to determine which of six u-joints is the problem. good luck, mds...