I just finished replacing my front rotors and repacking the wheel bearings. I assumed the bearings were original (almost 190k on them), but I cleaned and inspected them and saw zero obvious signs of wear or damage like scratches or discoloration so I chose to repack and reuse them.

I've never dealt with bearings before so I made sure to follow the FSM instructions. Even used the pull scale to get the right hub turning force. I went towards the tighter end of the spec range. Everything felt great - no slop but still easy to turn the hub, so I put it all back together.

But once I put the wheel back on I noticed if I grab the tire at the top and bottom and try to rock it back and forth, there is a tiny bit of wobble. I can see the hub wiggle maybe just 1mm or so and it's enough to make a slight clunking noise as I rock it. Is this normal...or do I need to tighten the bearings to get ALL the slop out...or does it mean the bearings are shot <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

NOTE: I did the same test back before I even started this job and the hubs had the exact same amount of wiggle....so I'm hoping it's normal. I really don't want to open up that greasy mess again! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

A little bit is ok. If you were able to move the wheel a bunch, then you'd be looking into some more work.

This is annoying. Now my right rotor is rubbing against the outer edge of the caliper bracket and getting scratched! When I assembled everything the clearance seemed really tight...like barely a 1/16th inch between caliper bracket and rotor. The bracket is a junky raybestos reman that looks like it came from Saltville, USA. I ground off a BUNCH of thick rust on it and thought that would do the trick...apparently not. Wheel still turns smoothly by hand...so it must be shifting around only when driving/cornering.

I guess I'll tighten the bearing up just a smidge and grind a little more rust off of the caliper bracket. If that doesn't work I guess I need new bearings? Or does it sound like a defective/damaged caliper bracket?

Zero is normal. You tighten to a very slight preload on the bearing. With the wheel on the ground or jacked, grab the top and vigorously shake the tire in and out and feel for any slop.

What about loose lug nuts? Was the disk seating surface on the hub cleaned on both sides? Is there any wheel runout?

Is there any sponginess on first engagement of the brakes? This happens when there's slop in the bearing or wheel, and the piston has to center up the disk before it can clamp. May also be evidenced by a minor veer on first braking as the sloppy side hits the pads first, or the non sloppy side clamps first.

This is what your after for a timken bearing that runs in grease ... If a timken bearing is running in oil ...You would what a little more preload ...

Was the wheel loose enough to of knocked back the "seat" were the inner bearing meets the spindle...?

Did you check to see if the seal fit right too the spindle ?...Some of the low rent seals they sell can be a little small at the spindle and it will flick the seal spring off if you dont grease it before install...

I have always had the arguement with my hanes book, they say to tighten them so much, then back off, and retighten so much on the retainer. I normally just use my tool, or a punch to tighten the retainer as much as it will let me and still spin nicely. What should the proper procedure be for tightening that retainer plate?

Just as you said Richard. Tighten to a certain torque, back-off and then tighten to a different torque. Can't remember the numbers, but can look it up <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the tips guys. Lugs are good, I torqued everything. Rotor is completely tight against the hub and I did wire wheel the mounting surface. Brake pedal feel is perfect - no sponginess, no veering. I did grease inside of the seal but I'll check and see if it got jammed against the spindle somehow.

I'm going to tear into it this weekend. The bearing slop is so minimal that I think just moving the adjuster a couple holes might take it out. If it doesn't feel right I'll get new bearings I guess.

I'm still baffled by the caliper bracket clearance because it's tight on BOTH the inside and outside edges. The ABS ring almost rubs on the inside edge and the rotor almost rubs on the outside edge. I'm wondering if it got dropped or warped somehow by the prior owner...unfortunately nobody sells just the bracket anymore. I'd have to buy a whole caliper from rockauto.

Its impossible to get zero play... There will always be some from the clearance of the bearings ID to the Axel's OD. Even if its only .0004"... The distance from the bearing to the top of the tire will make the amount of movement larger.

I'm a tad confused. Are you speaking of the play between the bearing inner race and the spindle? I'm not a geometrician good enough to figger the translation from .0004 at the spindle radius into displacement at the tire tread. I know it's more. Is it as simple as the ratio of the two radii? Or do I have to remember that old injun Soh Cah Toa stuff again and pull out the sine and cosine and tangent tables? If it's radii ratio, and you are running 31's, the ratio is 15-20ish. The movement at the wheel would be .006-.008, or thereabouts. Take out the feeler gauge set and look at a .008 blade. I agree it ain't zero, but to the hand, the movement of the tire wheel almost can't be felt. It feels like it want's to start to move, but you can't really feel the movement damped by the tire rubber. If you have a bare steel wheel bolted to the hub, you can just feel it if you have good hands.

That's what I mean by setting the wheel bearing by touch. You tighten until tightening more doesn't take out that last little tiny bit, then back off until it starts to wobble just a teeny bit more, then go about halfway back tighter for a minor preload. Align the locking holes to the closest index , pin it, and you are done. You did pack the bearing, right???