Wheel Bearings

I'm unclear as to how play could be observed at the rear wheels that is not play in the hub bearing? The spline is not a sliding spline - merely a convenience for assembly - and should be rigid and not subject to wear. I can't see how wear in the UJ's could result in anything that could be described as play at the wheel. Uneven resistance to rotation, rotational slack, yes, but play at the wheel no. I'm left only with the bearing as a source of play.

Now the original question was about low vibrating noises. So to get back to basics, there aren't too many options for that sort of noise. Wheel bearings is one - and lilnicky has identified play at all four wheels, so it is possible that all four bearings need attention. The other high probability is some of the six UJ's in the driveline. Low probability options could include something unusual awry with brakes or a problem in the diff, or gearbox.

So if I were lilnicky I'd start by taking up the front wheelbearings and making sure that they rotated freely and smoothly without evidence of bearing damage. Then I'd take a closer look at the rears. Try and define where there is movement, whether there is any roughness in rotation of the wheels as you'd expect with a damaged bearing. If in doubt get a 2nd opinion, if still in doubt, change a bearing including the compression collar and use the result to compare with the other side. Next Drive The Car. If the vibration is still there then the next most likely is UJ's. UJ's are reasonably cheap, but can be a pig to change! If there is obvious movement in any of them then the decision is easy, but UJ's are often defective - ie stiff/seized - without showing this obvious eveidence. So shange any that are obvious, if the noise still persists change all the rest.

Is that OK for starters?

Chris
 
Hi Guys,

After reading through all your suggestions (many thanks - its good to get some ideas) I think I'm gonna go as below:

Front bearings to be checked and adjusted - needs doing anyway
Check the diff and gearbox oil levels - just been changed but checking never hurts
penetrating oil on all the u/j's
grease nipple on the prop.
take the wheels off and refit - the mini lites were a bugger to get on, so another check!
check out the rear bearings again. I did notice when I first checked when she was on the ground I felt a substantial movement which was not present when she was in the air. Either she moved on the gravel or I'm missing something obvious.
while i'm at it I'll check out the rear hubs etc for wear and tear - the only other thing I've noticed is she sits a tad lower on that corner than the other and with a little bit of weight the tyre can catch the arch. I've always put this down to a worn spring and wider tyres - 195's on the mini lites I think (!). I figure if I get my long suffering brothers opinion at the same time we might get somewhere.

Once again, thanks for all the advice, its always appreciated. (incidentally the play was by holding the tyre and was top to bottom)
 
As Chris says & in my experience, if a UJ is stiff (rather than rattling about) then it's not obvious. You have to disconnect the shaft to find out & I don't think penetrating oil is going to have any effect on a duff UJ. I think you'll have to do a bit of spannering to properly eliminate them all from the equation or confirm one or more as the culprit(s). I've had 2 UJ's go stiff on our P5B's prop over the years which showed up as a nasty rhythmic vibration but the stiffness in the joints was undetectable until I could manipulate them by hand after disconnecting the propshaft.
Likewise Bruisers halfshafts some years back. One UJ was very loose & very apparent in situ but on removal of the shaft the one on the other end was stiff. On checking the other shaft as a matter of course it too had a stiff one (Oooeer Missus!). In the end we ended up replacing all six UJ's.
It seemed the sensible thing to do.
 
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