Again!!

[manxbuggy1]

Well crap! I just got my car on the road 2 weeks ago after pretty much rebuilding my front end and doing a bp swap while the front end was out. I heard a too familiar noise while driving home from work yesterday. Fortunately I was almost there when I heard it. I jacked up the front end , pulled off my wheels and guess what I found? Yup play in the same doggone wheel that practically came off on me last month. My first thought was that the crush nut loosened and that was why I had play. Nope crush nut still in place and tight. It actually feels like my inside bearing has play. My brand new inside bearing that was professionally pressed on by a shop I might add. Kind of makes me wonder if the hub I bought from the jy was faulty. On Tuesday morning I will use my last tow with AAA to get my car towed to the shop . Fortunately Neil (gorgonheimer) has a spare hub I can try if mine turns out to be bad. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section and mods feel free to move it if it is . I just had to vent a little. Thanks guys & gals.
Rick

[LittleHoe]

Weird my BP car has a clunk in the front end and is very unpredictable on the highway, I am thinking bad alignment or lower ball joint... gonna get it brought in for a wheel alignment and see if they can find the issue...

[manxbuggy1]

To my knowledge when it broke down last month, this was the first time the bearings had even so much as grumbled. I have driven her for 10 years and aprox. 135k miles and never changed them out and now twice in 2 months? that hub almost has to be def. or the bearings def. one. I guess I am getting paid back for the good luck with my bearings all these years. Lol. We will see Tuesday.

[doylerl]

That's ok... I replaced my wheel bearings in the front, and 2 months later, I had to do them again as well. I usually shop at advance auto... maybe their bearings and/or manufacturers have the wrong tolerance specs or something. Let us know what they say when you get it in there.

[manxbuggy1]

Funny you say that Doyler, my bearings were bought at advance auto. The shop that pressed them on bought the other side at napa and so far no problem. I will definately let you know what the culprit turns out to be.

[batstiva]

Hmm. Now I'm curious as well. I had my bearings done (RF wheel) literally the day before I left for FM3, and they were completely shot by Feb. of this year. Maybe 12K miles on them. And they had been making noise for a month before that. They came from Carquest, but who knows where they get their bearings. Wonder if all the McParts places get theirs from the same distributor? Anyway, had them done again, with Timkins this time, and so far, so good. Tho, it's only been since March. Guess we'll see.

[manxbuggy1]

yeah mine has 1500 miles on it since new bearings were installed and when I jacked it up it had a full inch of play. My shop that I take mine to uses only napa. When I told him where I bought the bearings for the right front, he shook his head and said don't. I realize that is just one opinion but after this he may have something. Idk.

[bhazard]

MAKE DOUBLE DARN SURE they put that spacer back in the middle between the bearings. If it ain't there your bearings will be shot in no time.

[manxbuggy1]

yeah I wasn't even aware the little spacer existed until the mechanic told me about it and showed it to me. He has helped me on my car many times and he has become pretty familiar with Festivas. Lol. I am confident that he will do it right.

[TominMO]

What do we know about the bearings from FMS?

[Safety Guy]

I haven't changed front bearings yet, but my main worry about the bearings themselves is that different brands will have slightly different widths, which will mess up the use of the original spacer and make it too tight or too loose.

It's also possible that the same brand of bearings could change specs through time due to different machinery, different milling specs, or simply machinery cutting tool wear, etc.

Karl

[Claude]

seems like they should last a lot longer than just a couple months, i have never had to change my bearings probably still stock to be honest and no issues, id say the new ones you all are getting are either not right or not installed right.

[MTec007]

Hmm. Now I'm curious as well. I had my bearings done (RF wheel) literally the day before I left for FM3, and they were completely shot by Feb. of this year. Maybe 12K miles on them. And they had been making noise for a month before that. They came from Carquest, but who knows where they get their bearings. Wonder if all the McParts places get theirs from the same distributor? Anyway, had them done again, with Timkins this time, and so far, so good. Tho, it's only been since March. Guess we'll see.

i dont know how good our wheel bearings are from timkins but my dad retired from timkin roller bearing in the canton area, and they make bearings for things like CAT, so maybe they make good bearings for our cars too? i think i need new front wheel bearings, im hearing some loud noise at around 15+ mph. i think ill go with timkin. or it could be my tires, i think the tires themselfs are stock lol

[muscle_Car1]

I have had a few issues b4 with wheel bearings going bad.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25250&highlight=wheel+bearing

[manxbuggy1]

Well just found out that bad bearings were not the problem. When I installed the hub on my car I was supposed to torque the nut to like 180 ft lbs. I made sure it was tight but did not torque it so I am sure it wasn't that tight. Also my jy hub is kind of wallered out and must again be replaced. Don't know if the play wallered it out or if it was that way when I got it. I do know that the mechanic will press this one as well as install it, so I dont have to worry about messing it up again.