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Very slight play in rear wheels? - advice pease
novicebuilder - 12/10/14 at 07:32 PM

As ever sorry for stupid questions but...

On my Haynes roadster rear wheels I have a very slight movement inwards when I forcefully lean against the upper edge of the back wheel, it springs back out after pressure released. I have studied everything and I think it is movement of the driveshaft in and out (?).

I know that my book had the wrong measurement for the rear wishbones, so had to make a second set 10mm longer as per revised measurements online. So I am happy that wishbones are correct length. However I note there is still a small gap between hub carrier and the hub flange. I have tightened the hub nuts but they are not fully torqued up so maybe there will be some more compression from these, but I would be surprised if it closed the gap completely.

Is this acceptable movement of driveshafts or should wheel be rock solid?

Should Hub flange be tight against the hub carrier up against the outer bearing seal?

Is drive shaft movement a likely cause and what are the best ways to solve the problem?

Thanks as ever of all expert guidance.


Ben_Copeland - 12/10/14 at 07:51 PM

So your wishbone bolts are all done up tight?

The hub carrier is held by the wishbones and shouldn't have anything to do with the driveshafts. The joints on the driveshafts have a lot of movement built into them so should move in and out a little. But the wheel should not!!

Although if your hub nuts aren't done up then the bearing won't be tight so that'll have movement in it!!!


mcerd1 - 13/10/14 at 10:47 AM

quote:
Originally posted by novicebuilder
Should Hub flange be tight against the hub carrier up against the outer bearing seal?

more or less yes

If you torque the hub nut up properly it will pull it all into the correct locations
if you leave it loose then there will be a lot of movement in the bearings !

quote:
Originally posted by novicebuilder
Is drive shaft movement a likely cause ?

No - the shaft itself plays no role in locating anything

the driveshaft should only extend/compress to allow the suspension to move (this is required as the distance between the diff and the hub will change slightly as the suspension moves up and down)


Stot - 13/10/14 at 05:14 PM

Does this happen when its on the wheels or jacked up? I know that on mine if I jack the back up the rear wheels will get a bit of camber because of the shorter top wishbones, if you are pushing the top of the wheel while its on its wheels on a light rear ended car then you could be unloading the shock by lever action and seeing this geomettry change?

Could it be the poly/rubber bushes being squished when you are leaning on it?

Cheers
Stot


novicebuilder - 13/10/14 at 08:16 PM

Thanks Guys

I will tighten up hub nuts to full torque and then have another check tomorrow. The movement is with wheels on the floor and on rocking the upper part of the tyre, so I think that it could be the shock absorber on a light end car.

Can you look out for my further post if I still have a problem, when I have tightened the hub nuts.

Thanks for your advice so far.


novicebuilder - 24/10/14 at 12:19 PM

Been away, so slight delay in progress..

I've tightened the driver side hub nut and situation seems better but not completely gone. I do think the slight flexing is coming from shock absorber movement as suggested. However on the (passenger side hub nut which is a left threaded locking nut) it started to tighten but then became easier to rotate and now just spins. I can't tighten it, or remove it! AAARRGGH!

Now what should I do. I presume I have to replace this hub nut, but can't get it off!

for infer: I tightened the nuts with the car on its wheels in gear and hand brake on.

Suggestions welcomed...
Thanks


mcerd1 - 24/10/14 at 02:33 PM

sounds like the nut may have been cross threaded or the threads were worn / corroded and when you got close to the torque is just stripped

were you using new nuts ?
these nuts are only meant to be used once and since they hold the wheels on this is not the part of the car I'd want to cut corners on


if your lucky its just the nut, if your not then you'll be looking for a new stub axle (or driveshaft if its the push-in ones)


your only real choice is to cut the nut off - but doing this without damaging the axle can be tricky....
(one of the usual tricks is to grind it very thin in one or two sides, but not all the way to the threads - then use a cold chisel slightly off centre to split it without ever touching the thread on the axle)


novicebuilder - 24/10/14 at 05:49 PM

It was a new nut that came with the new bearing set I fitted. Drive shaft thread looked fine and nut went on easily (left hand thread), so I don't think it can be cross threaded. I tightened it up as much as I could with prop shaft and gear box to use as resistance.

The gearbox and props shaft are now fitted so I just tightened it up to correct torque. The driver side went fine but the passenger side nut was tight and then moved a bit and then became easier to move and I realised it was just spinning?

I will get another one, any simple ways of getting this one off?