jmgtp

94LT1/ZF6. About 114k miles.

When I move from a stop I get the loud "click," which I thought would end up being bad Teflon washers. This morning I finally got the car up on stands and first thing I did was grabbed a rear wheel at 12 and 6 and gave it the wobble test. Sure enough there is a tiny amount of play and a small click. Grabbed the wheel at 9 and 3 and same result. I can see the play and if I had to guess I'd say it's something around 1/16 of an inch, but honestly hard to judge that measurement.

Question is, is this certainly worn rear wheel bearings or can it be that the Teflon washers are so worn out that they allow for the slop? What should I check for as I pull it apart to determine if the bearing is bad?

Front wheels show no signs of play or noise. I thought those would be the ones to go first since they should see more side loading in turns. As a side note, the bearings don't howell, even on the highway.

Unfortunately, my FSM is yet to be found after we moved in November.

SJW

First thing I'd do would be to torque the axle nut to spec, and see if the free play disappears. If it does, replace the friction washer, torque to spec, and call it done. If it doesn't, replace the hub/bearing while you're at it.

Live well,

SJW

Rob31

The next cause for a click is U joints .

GKK

At 114k, with wheel play...just change the wheel bearing assembly and be done with it.

Sidney004

If you find the nut to be finger tight, the bearing is shot. On my track driven car, a loose axle nut meant the bearing housing fell apart. If axle nut is tight, I wouldn't replace it myself. The play you described sounds about as good as a brand new "Chinese" hub, which almost all of them are nowadays. The click might just be the teflon washer, although annoying doesn't lead to any other failure.

leesvet

If you can SEE the play......

that's bordering dangerous.


IMO and its worked WELL for several C4s and probably near a million miles between them all,.

don't loose any sleep over that washer. The ONLY thing that washer does is apply the torque of the nut against the portion of the bearing race so the wheel is solid and the rim is actually turning against the bearings and not the slack in the race. The washer just transmits the "tight" against the inner race to hold it firm. That's all. Unless you're running a nascar event, you'd never know if it were there or not on a street car. What we do NOT want is the nut against any portion of the bearing assy other than the inner race....

Torqueing the nut to spec is more important. As long as that nut is against the bearing inner race, all is well.

Rule of thumb in hub assys...

if you can "feel" any play by wobbling the wheel...time for new hub assys.

if you can SEE the movement, its time to PARK IT. By running with that much play you WILL destroy the ABS sensor and those can be a b!tch to find.

jmgtp

The play seems to be in the in/out direction. That is to say that applying up/down pressure it doesn't show play, but when the wheel is grasped the play is in/out when I pull it toward me or push away.

I actually have a new set of teflon washers ready to go in. I think that the problem may be that the washers are worn in addition to inadequate torque on the nut. If I pull it apart, replace the washers and torque the nut to spec -- if I find no play left in the hub can I assume the bearing has not failed? As previously stated, no bearing howl noise - the only audible signal was the "clink" when starting from a full stop. I know that noise isnt the only factor at play but I had a wheel bearing go bad in a hurry on another car and it howled like crazy (that was actually one that I had previously replaced, the "new" bearing was Chinese mfg, it lasted about 4 months). I'd hate to throw bearings at it if the originals are still ok, not so much from the cost but because the replacement bearings are seem so hit or miss on whether they last or fail in short order.

Other note, I replaced all u-joints in the propshaft and both 1/2 shafts about 3 years ago with new spicers. I do not believe them to be the problem but I will inspect the 1/2 shaft u joints for play.

SJW

You said you could hear a click when you rock the wheel by hand. That says to me the noise is coming from the hub, and not from u-joints. If you torque the axle nut to spec, and the slack and noise go away when you rock the wheel by hand, replace the friction washer and you're good to go, and you can stop worrying about bearings for a while if all's quiet. If there's still free play when you rock the wheel after torquing the nut, plan to replace the hub/bearing and the friction washer, and you should be good to go after that.

Live well,

SJW

jmgtp

Thanks everyone - what makes the most sense is following SJWs recommendation (and a few others) of torquing the nut down and seeing if that eliminates the play. If it does, I'll pull it apart and just replace the washers. If the play remains I'll replace the bearings too. At least this way I'm not doing the work twice.

Was the torque spec revised up? I believe the FSM has it around 165 ft lbs. but again, my FSM yet to be located since our move.

Thanks again

корвет

1995 LT1 4L60E

At around 170,000 miles I heard the click in the rear like you. I also heard a howling noise LR. I could take a sharp left and the sound would go away (weight off LR tyre). I assumed it to be tyre noise as the tyre was near wore out. A little while later I got new tyres and the howling did go away, but not the clicking. The howling returned, gradually, in the next week or two. Then I heard a LR brake scraping noise when going over bumps. I jacked the car to investigate and my bearing was so shot the brake disc was tilted and 'eating' into the pads! I was lucky the bearing did not seize/break! I parked the car and ordered a $40 ebay bearing. I changed it one Saturday. Did not remove the knuckle. I had the brakes and all off but could not get the 36mm nut to break free on my carport. I put a long pipe on my breaker bar and I was moving the whole car and afraid it would fall off the jackstands. I put the car back together, drove to my Dad's (next door) and used his air impact wrench to break the axle nut free. I left the center cap off the rim, and was able to do this without removing anything. I then drove back to my carport, took all apart. I used various extensions and universals and the T55 socket to get the three bolts free. A pain, took about 2 hours just to do that, but got it done. Did not replace the Teflon washer cause I did not know I was supposed to. Did not see that in my FSM. Put it all back together and and the howling was gone, but the clicking remained.

I later found out at this site I should have replaced the Teflon washer, but figured I could live without it.

A few months later and at 200,000 miles I heard the howling again. I assumed the cheap bearing was failing. However, when I turned sharp left and sharp right, the sound would not go away either direction.

I then lifted up the LR and did the 12 - 6 o'clock test, all was tight.
So I jacked up the RR and it was loose. Still had OEM bearing.
This time I ordered form eBay a $27 S10 4X4 FRONT hub bearing (The same part, just comes with extra gaskets you do not need and 2/3 the price!) I also ordered 2 Teflon gaskets from a GM dealer.

This time I tried two weekends to get the three T55 bolts loose to no avail. I could not even get a single one to break free! So I took the knuckle off this time and used the air impact wrench and it only broke one bolt free. I used a 6' pipe cheater bar and got the other two to break free. I changed the bearing and the Teflon washer, put all back together and no howling or clicking! The LR still has the original washer.
Evidently, the RR was the clicking source even before it began to howl.

The car now has 254,000 miles. The car still has the OEM front bearings. No howling at all, but both fronts are slightly loose doing the 12 - 6 o'clock test. I did autocross this car a good bit in its early life (10-15 years ago, under 100,000 miles).

I know a lot of folks have had bad experience with cheap eBay bearings, my has been good. I now have about 85,000 on the LR (with original Teflon gasket) and about 55,000 on the RR. No howling or clicking and wheels are tight. About the only aggressive driving I do these days is over mountains.


Another thing to check for clicking is the C - Beam bolts. They are 22mm / 7/8" I think.

165 ft./lbs. is correct torque for the 36 mm axle nut.

jmgtp

Been there, done that and never again. Wasn't in the vette but I threw a set of $25 bearings in another car. One went 3 months before it holwed so loud that I swapped it for a used but good OEM bearing. In my hand, it was so loose and gritty feeling I don't know what was holding it together. Sold the car a month later, I'm sure the new owner is cussing me to pieces. It is why I dread replacing the Corvette bearings, not the labor, not the cost -but the luck or unluck in the world of replacement bearings. Seems a gamble no matter what manufacturer you choose.

jmgtp

Update: I torqued down the nuts to about 180 ft lbs. I reinstalled the wheel so I could rock it in the same fashion as before. The result is that the click is gone. I still get some freedom of movement but I notice the knuckle is moving and it seems to be the compliance in the rubber bushings (a job for another day!).

I'm still not 100% satisfied so I am going to remove the hubs from the car so I can feel them in my hand for any roughness or grit, if they pass muster they'll go back in with new teflon washers. Is there any way to check them with a dial indicator? Would be kind of tough since the magnetic base wont stick to aluminum. Maybe if I place the brake rotor on the ground and use that as a base?

Edit, forgot to mention that on the drivers side it was pretty easy to remove the nut. I used a breakerbar but not much force. Passenger side proved a little more difficult and rather than fuss with it I zipped it off with the impact.

leesvet

I seriously doubt that you will "feel" any slack in your hand.....these are very tight even when worn enough to wiggle on the car. Taking them off looses the leverage, so you won't be able to wiggle it enough to feel anything. As far as grit, roughness...you'd feel that installed. These are sealed units and not serviceable. Seals keep crap in as well as out...but you just can't feel it off the car unless its about to fall apart...