engine and drivetrain Possible bad wheel bearing - no end play...

[sirius815]

Alright, so I've gone through and replaced a ton of stuff on the '73 over the past four years and haven't put many miles on her. When I finally got her running again, I had an oops when I lost a wheel nut due to not tightening them down all the way and broke a stud. Not a proud moment...Replaced the stud, new lug nut good to go right... Drove the car again a few weeks ago (after doing the entire front brake system) and kept hearing a grinding noise as if the calipers were dragging a bit. Jacked the front end up and found end play on the drivers side and some noise from the caliper when spinning the wheel. Tightened the nut (right where end play stopped) and the grinding/scraping noise is gone, just a slight touch of the pad on the rotor all the way around - within spec I presume. The passenger side is a different story - there was no end play, but the grinding/scraping was much worse when spinning the wheel. Just because, I tightened the nut some more and noise never went away and I also gained some noise from the wheel bearing. (remember this is the side where I sheared a wheel stud).

 

So I'm thinking about replacing the wheel bearing on that side - the rotor is brand new (after stud had sheared), pads are brand new, calipers are rebuilt units that look good...could it be the hub itself that's slightly out of spec?

 

Sorry for the long post. Thoughts?

[AceAndrew]

I very much doubt the hub is "out of spec" with regards to the race seats, you are overdue for a bearing change..... and do yourself a favor and double check you didn't put one of those new pads in backwards.  With the hub off, take a close look at the strut spindle and for any gouging in the hub.

[jgerock]

Inspect the calipers if they are the "rebuilt" ones.  They may be contacting the rotor .  If they have the tall bleeders, make sure those aren't contacting the wheel.

 

and replace the wheel bearings if old/questionable.

[sirius815]

Caliper is definitely not touching the rotor. I'll get a new set of bearings on order and inspect the spindle and inside the hub during the R&R. Any particular grease that you guys prefer? I used Valvoline disc brake wheel bearing grease last time I repacked the bearings.