Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

[David B.]

I've read where there should be a tiny (repeat: "tiny") bit of play in front wheel bearings when they're cold. This is supposed to allow for some expansion as they heat up. Is this true?

On my '58 I get noticeable vibration at 40 mph and am wondering if my tiny bit of play (when cold) is the culprit. It could also be wheel balance, alignment, tires, or something else. Thanks, guys.

Dave

[Terry D.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

David
The ST-12 describes the amount of free play in the front bearings. When you have the wheels balanced check to make sure the balance weight is still on the brake drum. Back in the day they were chisiled off so certain mag wheels would fit flat on the drum, the wheels were then balanced on the car. Been there had to do that.
Terry

[John F.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

David, I would rule out metal contraction/expansion as a problem since it would be minimal. Pull wheel and hub and check the bearing torque first, clean & grease the bearings, then balance wheels, then alignment. Find an old timer at an alignment shop that knows what they are doing. Search old threads on thia subject.

[Duke W.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

Vibration due to wheel balance or tire out-of-round is usually most noticeable at the suspension's natural frequency, which occurs (front suspension) in the 55-65 MPH range, so if the vibration is most noticeable at 40 MPH, I would look elsewhere.

Try to give a more detailed description of the vibration and the total speed range it occurs in. Do you feel it in the steering wheel or though the seat? Do you have an idea where it is coming from?


Duke

[Bill M.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

I've read where there should be a tiny (repeat: "tiny") bit of play in front wheel bearings when they're cold. This is supposed to allow for some expansion as they heat up. Is this true?

On my '58 I get noticeable vibration at 40 mph and am wondering if my tiny bit of play (when cold) is the culprit. It could also be wheel balance, alignment, tires, or something else. Thanks, guys.

Dave

Do you have ball bearings (production) or roller bearings (aftermarket)? Ball bearings are pre-loaded (see ST-12); this could be your problem.

GM doesn't pre-load roller bearings. Free play is not for expansion. Ford runs a light preload on roller bearings.

[David B.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

Thank you, gentlemen, for your insights. Addressing your comments:

- Bill, my '58 has front disc brakes, so I'm going to guess that it has roller bearings. By "pre-load," do you mean "play"?

- John, I have found an old-timer who understands these aged front ends. As soon as I get new tires, he'll align the front end and service the bearings. I'm just curious to learn about vibrations. That's an interesting point you make about the suspension's resonant frequency. Is that unique to C1s?

- Duke, the range of vibration is narrow, from 40-45 mph. It comes in through the steering wheel.

- Terry, as I mentioned above, I have front discs, so there's no problem with weights on brake drums.

By the way, I'm running aging 6.70x15 bias tires.

Dave

[Bill M.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

- Bill, my '58 has front disc brakes, so I'm going to guess that it has roller bearings. By "pre-load," do you mean "play"?

Dave

Dave: Sounds like you have rollers. Pre-load means a torque applied to the wheel bearing adjustment nut as the final step in wheel bearing adjustment. The pre-load on the C1 front wheel ball bearings is 12 ftlb. The preload on some Ford front wheel roller bearings is a few inlb; no free play. Bill

[David B.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

Thanks, Bill. >>The preload on some Ford front wheel roller bearings is a few inlb; no free play.<<

So, I'm assuming that since I have rollers, I should have no play at all, not even a "tiny" bit. Should the preload on my rollers be similar to what you cite for Ford? Where might I find that spec, or could I just load them by feel (Bubba-like)?

Dave

[Bill M.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

Thanks, Bill. >>The preload on some Ford front wheel roller bearings is a few inlb; no free play.<<

So, I'm assuming that since I have rollers, I should have no play at all, not even a "tiny" bit. Should the preload on my rollers be similar to what you cite for Ford? Where might I find that spec, or could I just load them by feel (Bubba-like)?

Dave

Dave: To be safe (don't know what you have), you should allow just a little play. Ford spec is 0.000 to 0.005 play. Bill

(FYI: The C4-C6 have wheel bearings built into a sealed assembly. They have no play by design. If there is play, they are shot.)

[David B.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

>>To be safe . . . you should allow just a little play<<

Thanks, Bill. That's exactly what I have, Bill. So, I'm going to leave the adjustment alone for now and when I upgrade to radials, I'll have my old-timer mechanic do a complete inspection/packing/adjustment on those rollers in there.

By the way, I don't want to hijack my own thread (and I know I could find a ton of info on this topic if I did a search), but since I have you experts here helping me with what appears to be tire issues, what brands of radials do y'all use and are you happy with their performance?

Dave

[Bill M.]

Re: Do Front Wheel Bearings Expand When Warm?

>>To be safe . . . you should allow just a little play<<

Thanks, Bill. That's exactly what I have, Bill. So, I'm going to leave the adjustment alone for now and when I upgrade to radials, I'll have my old-timer mechanic do a complete inspection/packing/adjustment on those rollers in there.

By the way, I don't want to hijack my own thread (and I know I could find a ton of info on this topic if I did a search), but since I have you experts here helping me with what appears to be tire issues, what brands of radials do y'all use and are you happy with their performance?

Dave

For highway use, I lean toward Michelin because they have such good uniformity (manufacturing quality). I have them on my '92; when I installed the PS2s on the '92, I was getting it ready for a PV, and wanted no chance of a driveability (vibration, pull) issue. They were expensive, but all 4 required 0.5 ounce or less to balance.