My car has symptoms of ball joint problems coming from the lower rear front control arm. I went ahead and ordered new control arms and ball joints for the front end of the car, I just replaced the torque-strut arms, ball joint, and bushings on the front of the car.

To my damn surprise, I cant get any play out of the lower rear ball joints! I had the car up in the air, and it looks like the brake rotor has movement but not the ball joint!

I adjusted the front wheel bearing, it was completely loose and turned it in by hand about 3-4mm. I know the adjustment is only 2mm, but it was very loose!

WOW, the vehicle almost tracks perfectly straight again, no more clunk when entering the driveway, and the steering wheel has almost no vibration. I am still receiving a tiny bit of play from the bearing still, but I didn't want to tighten it too much.

Can I tighten the bearing a bit more? Also, I may not even replace the lower control arms until I get the front tires balanced and the vehicle re-aligned. I might have mis-diagnosed the vehicle, or maybe not. Thoughts?

 

Adjust the bearings to spec using a dial indicator, they will have a very small amount of play but that's necessary to keep from burning them up when things expand during use with heat in them

 

I will need to purchase a dial indicator indeed. Do you know if the wheel bearing "adjustor" is supposed to be loose/turnable by hand?

I will make note of this issue and be sure to adjust it correctly, thankfully it was hot when I adjusted it. For now, I am more concerned I may need to replace the bearing, the car has 99k miles however I do not hear any strange noises. How can I properly diagnose the wheel bearing, will I need a dial indicator for this as well? Thank you much

 

The bearing clamp nut is a hand-tight item, if you're strong. Tighten with a rag between your paw and the nut, reef on it, back it off a tiny bit, spin the wheel, repeat once, done. There should be just the tiniest bit of play. A bad bearing is diagnosed by it making a growling noise. I use a screwdriver as a stethoscope and press it against the end of the spindle and listen while the wheel is turning. If Your bearings are so loose or worn that it's felt through the steering wheel, it doesn't matter because the road wheel is about to fall off the car anyhow.

 

Thank you so very much, I will replace the wheel bearings as soon as possible as I have feared the same outcome, thankfully I have you on my side with excellent experienced advice. I am of average strength and it seemed to me that the wheel bearing adjustment nut was very loose indeed. I might decide to tighten just a tad more, until I replace the bearings. I only drive the car once and a while however the main issue is the left (drivers side) bearing, of course. I feel confident the lack of wheel noise is a good sign I can drive my kid back and forth for maybe a week or two, I will report back once the parts come in with a new post after I have replaced both wheel bearings. For that job, I will use a dial indicator. The hand method should work very nicely with my old bearings for a few hundred miles at most. You rock!

 

I replaced my front wheel bearings and races DIY without any dial or adjustor. Hand-packed grease, etc. IMHO, it is safe to loosen the nut by hand precision 1/8 to 1/5 turn. Put 11K miles since. It is not as scary as it seems.

 

After getting a dial indicator and seeing just how tight the spec is.. I'm guessing 1/8 turn would be three or four times out of spec.
Probably won't hurt anything seeing as people have been using that method for years.
Vince

 

replace the bearing and the race, not a hard job. Knock the old race out with a punch. Tap the new races in with a hammer, using the old race and a socket. best to use a press if you have one, but not critical. Tighten the bearing bolt while spinning the wheel until the wheel barely turns with effort. Put the dial indicator on the rotor and loosen the nut until you have between .01 and .02 mm which is .393 and .787 thousands. tighten the lock screw to 12 nm

 

Would be nice to know the numbers printed on the bearings as you could order them from a bearing supplier and save money compared with buying them at a car parts store. The inner and outer race of the bearings will have a number stamped on them. If anyone has their bearings handy from having done the job we could get the numbers.