Road Wheel Wobble

[TeriAnn]

Not sure I'd buy into that method, except for very short trips.

I've put over 250,000 miles on my truck using that method over the last 33 years. It was taught to me by my LR mentor, Jim "Scotty" Howet who used to own a shop that was a LR factory authorized warranty repair shop for Series LRs. He was LR factory trained on Series trucks.

Snug is a pretty relative term, relativity being what it is

The term should be tight. You tighten the inner nut until it will not tighten anymore. You turn the hub to make sure everything is seated and the inner nut is tight. Then back off 1-1/2 flats, then install the second nut then fold over the washer tab. The first few times I tried it I checked it with a dial indicator.

Pay Young, a well known veteran LR mechanic in Southern California uses the same method but backs off 2 full flats instead of 1-1/2. Works for him but it feels a tad loose for me.

Bottom line is that the wheel bearings have a short life if they are loaded and a long life if they are unloaded. And they are not overly sensitive as to the unloaded clearance.

Now the way I was taught about wheel wobble is if you shake it side to side & get wobble tighten the wheel bearings. If you get no unusual side to side wobble by get vertical wobble to check the steering bushings.

[TedW]

Dumb question from Ted:

Is the end-float / play adjustment the same for both front and back wheels?

[jac04]

Is the end-float / play adjustment the same for both front and back wheels?

Yes.

[bpj911]

wheel bearings

This is a pretty academic discussion. I can't imagine anyone using a dial indicator to pack wheel bearings and I can't imagine anyone not knowing how to pack bearings working on a land rover at all. Let me be the first to say it. (i am a jack ass) Thanks

[Terrys]

I've put over 250,000 miles on my truck using that method over the last 33 years.

Good for you. Mentor's credentials aside, the devil is in the details, some of which you need to freshen up on.

The term should be tight. You tighten the inner nut until it will not tighten anymore.

Tight? Finger tight? Breaker bar tight? Something in between perhaps?

Pay Young, a well known veteran LR mechanic in Southern California uses the same method but backs off 2 full flats instead of 1-1/2. Works for him but it feels a tad loose for me.

1 1/2 flats is ok, but 2 is loose? A half a flat is about .003", and the tolerance is only .002", but they're not "overly sensitive"? Which is it? You're arguing against using a dial indicator for setting end float, but making a pretty good argument for it's use.

Now the way I was taught about wheel wobble is if you shake it side to side & get wobble tighten the wheel bearings. If you get no unusual side to side wobble by get vertical wobble to check the steering bushings.

Any wobble related to wheel bearings is radial, and is going to be the same side-to-side, and top-to-bottom. By "steering bushings" are you referring to the swivel pin bushings? No top-to-bottom play, and you've ruled out loose wheel bearings and swivel pins. Side-to-side play, with no top-to-bottom play, look at tie rod ends, relay and steering box.

[cedryck]

dial indicator

I enjoyed the conversation, and pics showing the dial indicator method of setting wheel bearing runout. I used the method described by TA and have experienced good results, never a wobble, and this does not eat bearings. Always a good idea to give your wheels a shake, (grab one side at 3 o'clock, and the other at 9 o'clock and pull from side to side) after setting things up.

[SafeAirOne]

I've used both methods, but switched to the dial indicator method the last few times. I figure I've got the tools and it only takes 2 seconds, I might as well do it the way the book says.

The OP was a little alarming though, citing a quarter-inch of movement at the outer wheel circumference! That's HUGE!

[TeriAnn]

Tight? Finger tight? Breaker bar tight? Something in between perhaps?

Whatever. It doesn't matter what I say does it?

[printjunky]

A little update, especially considering SafeAir's concern. My perception seems to have been a bit exaggerated, at least on the rears. I had been working for a few hours getting custom seatbelt backing plates prepped, drilled and installed, and it was quite late, so I might have been a little loopy. I went out the next day, and the rear hubs barely tick. If I had to guess, doing a 12:00/6:00 shake, there has to be a 16ths or even 32nds range of movement. Tiny! And as someone said, that's at the outside of the tire, so quite magnified. The front drivers (LHD) is a little worse, but not much. The front driver's probably warrants some looking at/tightening.

It may (may not?) be notable, that I do not perceive any 3:00/9:00 movement. (At least on the rears. Don't remember on the front). And on the pass. side, I get no movement in any direction. Or at least nothing I found notable.

I'm going to wait it out on the rears for now, having no garage, and having winter breathing down my neck. And plenty of other things to do Rover- and other-wise before the serious snow flies here.

[SafeAirOne]

OK--That's not too bad then. I had some free time the other day and I actually did the math:

A 1/4" movement at the perimeter of a 31 inch tire equates to aboout 0.9 degrees of movement x 2 sides = just shy of 2 degrees total random movement from the front wheels.