I have detected free play in a rear hub/bearing. Has anyone tackled a maintenance task like this and do you have any hints. Does the whole subframe need to be removed?
Peter
No it can be done in situ, just make sure you identify exactly where the play is, lower fulcrum bearings, wheel bearings or half shaft U/j’s
If it is actually the hub, and not the other things Robin noted, it’s a shim adjustment. Have done one on my e type following a roadworthy advisory. Just the hub comes out. Recall YouTube videos of same.
Peter, you have probably already done this, but you can zero in on the problem with the car jacked up. Wiggle the tire so that it makes the clunking noise, and put your hand right on each of the lower fulcrum joints and then each of the half shaft u-joints to feel for relative motion. It might be easier with the tire off or with a helper.
If you eliminate these four locations that leaves the wheel bearing. Wheel bearings can run with a little bit of play. I forget what the spec is. Helpful video on YouTube, I’ll see if I can find it
Thank you all, this is very helpful and it is a relief that I might be able to solve the problem relatively… relatively… easily. I can’t investigate further just yet because the car’s nose is up in the air, but when I rocked the wheel firmly with the rear on the ground, the feel and sound of the play was reminiscent of a loose front wheel bearing with the car’s weight on it.
This is the trap we fall into - whilst waiting for one part to be finished, we look around to see if there is anything else lurking waiting to surprise us. Better to find a problem early.
The freeplay will either be in the bearings or due to worn half shaft uni joints. It’s pretty easy to work out which it is with the wheel off.
The bearings have a specified amount of endfloat which is set by a spacer. This is quite discernible if you rock the wheel in the vertical plane.
The process for setting this endfloat is in the manual.
If you can get the spline out of the hub you can adjust this on the car without even having to remove the hub carrier. You would need a dial gauge to measure the endfloat, and replacement spacer of the correct thickness.