L series wheel play

smiles · Post by **smiles** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:24 pm

Hi guys,

I have a problem with my wife's 85 L series. The front left wheel has quite a lot of "wobble" which can be felt easily when it is jacked of the ground. I tightened the castle nut a few weeks ago which solved the problem, but now it is loose again. The castle nut has not undone as it has the pin through it so there must be some wear happening on the cone washer or something. I also replaced the wheel bearing but that hasn't stopped the problem. Does anybody know what the problem would be?..

Thanks a lot,

Shane

Post by **Alex** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:28 pm

was the wheel bearing put in correctly? Seems like typical dead wheel bearing symptoms to me

are you doing up the castle nut as tight as you can possibly get it?

i weigh 100kgs and i jump on a breaker bar to do up my hub nuts.

never back off the nut to get the split pin thru.

have you put the cone washer incorrectly? it should flush when put in, and the other washer isnt actually flat,its sort of spring washer type and only goes in one way, pointing outwards...its really hard to describe with words hahaah

alex

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:48 pm

Yeah Shane.. like Alex mentioned, the cone washer will be the culprit. I would look closely at it, most of the time the tapered face gets a lip on it and causes the cone washer to tighten up only to that lip. I found by using a file, remove the lip and replace as per removal and make sure you do the castellated nut up as much as you can and by that I mean the BIGGEST breaker bar you can find. You wont do any harm unless the breaker bar breaks

If you still have wheel wobble then your bearings have worn more then the limit allowed.

smiles · Post by **smiles** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:19 pm

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll have a close look at the cone washer- I don't think there is even a spring washer on top of it as RSR mentioned....which would explain why the pin is almost above the grooves in the castle nut. I have used a huge shifter with a bar on it plus all my weight to do up the nut, but do you think I need to get a socket?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:23 pm

You replaced the bearing - singular or plural? These babies have two per side. You did do both huh ? Inner and outer ? 36mm sockets with 3/4" drive can be found quite cheaply if you are on the lookout. I use a 600mm long breaker bar in 3/4" drive (or should that be 19.05mm? ) And remind me never to think bad things about 100kg Alex again, as I am on 80kg I use a gal piece of water pipe as an extension over the breaker bar for more leverage on these nuts. 180 ft pounds aparently

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:26 pm

RSR 555 wrote:make sure you do the castellated nut up as much as you can and by that I mean the BIGGEST breaker bar you can find. You wont do any harm unless the breaker bar breaks If you still have wheel wobble then your bearings have worn more then the limit allowed.

From memory the torque setting is either 160nm or 195nm... Hmmm, I should look that one up. Just jump on it until you can't get much more out of it, then line up the next hole for the pin.

Make sure you've got a 3/4 drive bar as I've broken my dad's best (20yo) 1/2 drive bar... Not happy Jan!

As for your bearing change, did you change both bearings in the hub? The other wobble you might have, but is a long shot, is the axle stub has some slop in it where it mates to the bearings - how hard was it to pull the axles stub through?

Also check your steering components to make sure there's nothing dead in there (tie rod end and ball joint).

Cheers

Bennie

smiles · Post by **smiles** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:33 pm

Yeah sorry I meant bearings (plural). Both have been replaced and it was very easy to pull the axle through- no resistance at all.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:37 pm

smiles wrote:it was very easy to pull the axle through- no resistance at all.

That's generally not a good sign - there should be some resistance when re-installing the driveshaft through the bearings. I think you'll find that the shaft has some play between it and the bearings, basically it requires a new shaft/outer CV joint.

The way to check this is to remove the hub and see if you can feel any play when you try to wiggle the stub axle end of the drive shaft. If there's any play this will be where the problem is if you've done everything else right (cone washer shave/torque on the castle nut).

Cheers

Bennie

smiles · Post by **smiles** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:48 pm

I think from memory there was a bit of play there actually and I assumed there would be some sort of interference fit to secure it with tension from the wheel side. I guess the cheapest way to fix it would be to get a whole shaft from the wreckers would it?

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:51 pm

That would most likely be the cheapest fix. There shouldn't be any play when the stub axle has been pulled through as far as you can get it

Cheers

Bennie

smiles · Post by **smiles** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:57 pm

Great. Problem solved- I hope. What's the going rate for a shaft from the wreckers?

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:37 am

El_Freddo wrote:From memory the torque setting is either 160nm or 195nm... Hmmm, I should look that one up. Just jump on it until you can't get much more out of it, then line up the next hole for the pin.

Make sure you've got a 3/4 drive bar as I've broken my dad's best (20yo) 1/2 drive bar... Not happy Jan!

As for your bearing change, did you change both bearings in the hub? The other wobble you might have, but is a long shot, is the axle stub has some slop in it where it mates to the bearings - how hard was it to pull the axles stub through?

Also check your steering components to make sure there's nothing dead in there (tie rod end and ball joint).

Cheers

Bennie

LOL Bennie.. best not to break your old man's tools.. hehe

I think that's good advise about the clearance between CV Joint and Bearings but feel it would be best to try the taper washer (cheaper & easy option to check) first. I've had any L's and MYs that the CV Joint has gone in easy and still tightened up without any issues.

And yes.. very good idea to check Ball Joint and Tie Rod/Ends.

Shane.. I'm not sure I mentioned that spring washer (maybe it was an earlier thread) but it's not a spring washer in the normal kind but more of a convex washer ( http://equipmentcity.net/catalog/images/WA433715.jpg ) it goes between the cone washer and the nut.

Cheers,
Paul

Post by **TOONGA** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:57 am

Check the splines in the hub as well, the tops of the splines should be square not pointed. if the splines are damaged it won't matter how tight you do up the nut there will still be play in the shaft.

TOONGA

smiles · Post by **smiles** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:09 pm

I think you guys have solved it.. There is no spring washer installed so I'll pick one up and put it on tomorrow. In the meantime I have done the nut up really tight and there is no movement, but the missing washer must have had a role to play in keeping it done up, particularly since the split pin is almost clear of the castellations of the nut. Thanks to Bennie's link I'll know what I am looking for at the parts shop.