Front Wheel Bearing Trouble, No help from auto mechanic

[AZ-Treker]

95 Aspire Drivers side front wheel bearing went out. Read online where there have to be specific size shims added to make sure the bearings have the propper tourque so I took it to the auto mechaninc. At the counter I mentiond that "I guess there's supposed to be shims in there" and the guy said "I don't think so." That had me worried but I had them replace it anyway. Well, the next day I was going down the freeway and the bearing went out again. The car was making noise and wobbling all over. Got it back to the mechanic and they replaced it again. Well, now it's making noise AGAIN. They said that if it goes out again the spindle will have to be replaced and they checked and couldn't find one and told me good luck finding one, like they didn't want anything to do with it anymore. So now I'm thinking I might find the special tool needed and buy the shims and try to replace the bearing myself. I'm wondering if they added shims to the bearing at the mechanics. If not, I'll be pissed since I told them about them. If so, then mybe the axle does need to be replaced. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should do here?
Thanks guys.

[crazyrog17]

There is a spacer (looks more like a fat washer) between the bearings that is specific to the spindle. They were all calibrated at the factory, the spacer/spindle combo should be fine to reuse when you install new bearings. It sounds to me like the mechanic discarded the spacer and installed the bearings without one. Doing so would lead to the bearings being pushed together and then falling apart internally/grinding horribly.

If you do decide to do them yourself, look up the how to pictorial with the search function. They're not horrible, xaero_81 and I have done a set with a slide hammer, vice, block of wood and a BFH. The main thing after it's all reassembled (with the spacer between the bearings) is to over-torque the axle nut a bit to make sure the bearings are seated. You then loosen it off, torque to spec and stake it.

[AZ-Treker]

Thanks for the reply so quickly. Well, I'm going to tear into it in the morning and I HOPE the shim (washer) is still there. It doesn't sound like it. So if it's not there, do I have to follow the steps found here http://www.autozone.com/autozone/rep...00c15280079d25 in order to get get it rolling again? If so then I guess I need to get this special tool and all the shims in order to find the correct size which is gonna suck big time.

[olivertwist]

The guy at the part store was like here are the bearing thats all you need ,,,the spacer in my car are fine when we looked at it the guy who fixed them said I need a new one and told me that he can make me one free and did using the old one i wish i had a picture. used some shims and a welder about a 1hour and

[Bert]

This whole 'pre-load' bearing tension business revolves around the existence of that spacer. If there is a KIA dealer near you they should know about this stuff since their cars retained that idiot feature for many more years. If the spacer is missing (it's just a ring-like piece of metal) KIA, or somebody on this site will have some. Be forewarned; These rings are fairly specific and there are 22 different width versions.

[denguy]

When the knuckles are originally machined at the Kia factory they do not all come out the same size which would be impossible, so they are measured and assigned a spacer of the appropriate thickness to result in the bearings ending up with the right pre-load after assembly.

[Hot_Wheels]

I have a number to a guy that rebuilt my hubs and a couple other members on here. He has shims and will set.the proper preload for you. I think I paid 160 but supplied my own.bearings. Pme if you want his info

[Bert]

When the knuckles are originally machined at the Kia factory they do not all come out the same size which would be impossible, so they are measured and assigned a spacer of the appropriate thickness to result in the bearings ending up with the right pre-load after assembly.

Lovely thinking on behalf of the KIA factory but about as stupid as it gets otherwise. Eli Whitney (an American) was the originator of the identical parts and assembly line system (almost two hundred years ago) and KIA somehow became busy reverse-engineering this principle. Machined parts can be made to be interchangable, and very easily. 22 different bearing shims is a joke.
Remington 870s are cheaply-made durable and reliable American shotguns that work because the engineers and machinists of the late 1940s realized they could get real sloppy on tolerances provided the only thing important was adhered to: that the bolt closed tight. The barrel (any 870 barrel!) has a casting slot built-in that locks into a mostly-cheap bolt! Smart. Now here we have constantly-failing car front hubs that were designed by Japs, Koreans, Frenchmen or Brits 40 years later. For sure not by Americans. Makes no sense.

[kellen302]

These Japanese and Korean engineers also designed a fabulous family of cars that has many interchangeable engines and transmissions along with most of the other parts throughout the cars. They are even so durable and well designed as to be produced in Iran and sold throughout the third world even today, 25 years after the first of the family was engineered.

[iceracerdude]

Yeah, it does make sense, if you know how it works. With all due respect to Remington (I'm an 1100 owner myself) the fit is not in the same ball park. ALL tooling wears fractionally, and then eventually wears out on ALL assembly lines, even that cobler Eli Whitney understood that, again, the tolerences are no where near what we're talking about here. Because these tolerences are CONSTANTLY changing during the manufacturing process, it can be compensated a couple of ways. In some cases the machine tool can be backed away/ moved closer, or basicly adjusted to compensate. The machine tool can also be replaced much quicker with a fresh unit as well (way too expensive sometimes) In some cases these choices are not even possible, and shims are introduced OR different sized bearings are used right from the factory. This is the case in most high tolerance japanese crank bearings for example, both with the rods and mains and the end of the cranks are even stamped with this very info if you know how to read it.
Although it's true, simply tightning a nut to take up slack is nice, but EVERY single design on an automobile is patented/owned by someone/somewhere.
In some cases some of those patents have been "gifted" to the world for the sake of safety, and are susequently more common and enjoyed freely, obviously unbeknownst to many.
Alas, Eli Whitney industrial genius that he was 200 years ago, worked largely with a ruler, what the boys here are talking about involves a micrometer and thousands of inches, and in some cases coblers masquerading as mechanics! imho

[WmWatt]

It's only been, what, 3 days since the bearings were first changed? I'd go back and ask the mechanic to look in his trash bin to see if the spacer is there. If he won't do it I'd look for myself. Hey, I lost a small irreplaceable part off a vintage bicycle in a DIY bike shop and a week later I went back and looked through the scrap metal bin and found it. An hour looking through the bin coud save you a lot of time trying to find another spacer to fit. Good luck.

[scitzz]

You don't need a special tool, although I have it, and it makes it easier/ A BFH is all you REALLY need, other tools can get it done faster...

[FB71]

if you really need it fixed, send me the hub. I'll rebuild it for $50 plus parts. I have a LARGE collection of the preload shims. I can turn it around in a day.

[AZ-Treker]

I apreciate all the info everyone has provided. It's all a big help. I thought I was going to be tearing into it today but decided to go see "Skyfall" today. Apparently with everyone else in the world too. I'll get at it tomorrow though ad see what I have to do.

[AZ-Treker]

Bearings replaced

OK, so I replaced the front wheel bearings a couple of days ago. The pics below are what I discovered in the spindle (I think that's the right name) when I removed the races. I felt the nicks and they were raised a hair and I couldn't see how the races could sit flush so I took the cut off wheel that had been worn down small enough to fit inside the hole and just lightly ground down the protrusions. I put the bearings in using the procedure Zoom posted. I also put so much synthetic grease in there that when I torqued it all down it popped the front seal out and I had to push it back in after I fully torqed it again.

After spinning the wheel probably a half doesen revolutions I grabbed the wheel at the 12:00 and 6:00 positions and the 3:00 and 9:00 positions and wiggled it and found that there's movement. I got inderneath and did it again while looking and the back of the spindle and saw that it was actually the spindle moving separate from the axle, like I didn't have the bearings tightened up enough. I double checked the torque, spun the wheel and wiggled again and it still seemed loose but I left it.

I've driven it now for about 30 miles and I hear a soft "wop wop wop" to me just like it was doing before I tor into it. So, I'm stumped. Is the spindle bad??? I have no clue. Anyone?

spindle1.jpg
spindle2.jpg