Nmax92

two questions.
1. will a bad front HUB cause the ride to feel rough like something is rubbing?


2. I have excess negative camber. I was told I have a bad spindle. what is a spindle. Is the spindle another name for the steering knuckle? I looked in my chiltons and I don't see anything that talks about a spindle. I was told by a mechanic that I can't an alignment unless the tire sits vertical.

work done on front:
1. changed both axels
2. new ball joints
3. new motor mounts

the next thing i have a problem with is that my passenger wheel I set back about an inch to the back of the fender. I took it in to get checked and was told the chassis isn't bent. what the H*LL?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

1. Yes
2. yes
3. maybe fender is misaligned, but that is a sure sign of previous repair

bvtran

iTrader: (3)

(1) Maybe, yes. But most of the time, if you hear rubbing noises it's the wheel bearing assemblies on each side getting worned out. You'll heard the sound of "rubbbb rubb rubbb rubbbb rub rubbbb" randomly. First you'll notice the noises at low speed, then when it gets worst and worst, you'll start to hear it a higher speed. Yes, HW speed. If you're starting to hear it 70mph or less, it's not too late to change them but if you don't. Then the damaged wheel bearing will cause so much plays on the inner races that will eventually worn them out. Eventually, it'll kill your hub[s] soon after. Normally, it'll takes you to put on additional 10K of miles on the engine from the moment the wheel bearing assemblies goes bad to the moment it damages the hub. Since you're not doing it yourself, it's gonna be a tough call. Just ask yourself how since you've been hearing the noises? Do you hear it at 70mph or more or less? However, if you ever change your mind and decided to do your own wheel bearings replacement. It's a lot easier to tell whether you have a bad hub or not just by looking at it.

Btw, when a hub goes bad it makes whistling noises NOT rubbing.

(2) No. That's bull. Your spindle is the steering knuckle that has the wheel bearing embedded inside and it's huge a$$ solid piece of metal that'll last ya at least 1million miles regardless how rustly it is. Not unless you've just drove over a pile of acids, then oh that's a whole different story. j.k.

There is a good chances that your control arms were shacked. That's why your front drumsticks aren't angled as it should. Just get yourself a new arm sets and you'll be fine. Brian the internetautomart dude sells them dirt cheap. However, just to be fair for both you and Brian, if you're getting the entire control arm set from him, his is just like OE with bushings pressed in. Esp, the front one, both inner and outher tubes were pressed in. Just becareful when you change do it yourself cuz there is a good chance that your old inner spacer or crush tube (whatever they're called) is frozen and that'll make your life miserable when you try to take it off. I know mine stucked on their like it's been welded in. You might wanna get a Mapp Blow Torch to manhandle it by annealling it. Get it glows then spray wd40 on it immediately. That might works.

Nmax92

so your saying that the steering knuckle cannot be bent to cause the excessive camber. You said the bearings are imbedded in the steering knuckle, does this mean that I have to go to a shop to get it pressed out? or can I get a new knuckle with the bearing included?

bvtran

iTrader: (3)

There are several ways to remove the bearing assembly. One way is to remove the entire knuckle from the vehicle and take it to a shop to have it press in and out with a hydraulic press (up to 3tons according to the FSM). It's going to cost you around $30 per press, so 4 presses would cost you around $120 right there. Also, it's all depending on the guy you talk to. Some fella will only charge you for 2 presses for 4, other guys won't. Plus, you'll need to get the wheel aligned afterward once you're done. That'll cost you around $200 total for this project (not including the wheel bearing assemblies and seals, they're around $100 total for both sides). Of course if you find out later after the installation that hub was bad, now you gotta take everything apart again. Then buy new hub and pay more service fees.

An alternative way is to use a wheel bearing removal adapter with impact wrench. It's a lot more cost effective since you dont' have to remove the entire knuckle off to service the vehicle. That implies you don't have to get the wheel realigned afterward. Plus, there will be lesser things to remove. If you know what you're doing, it shouldn't takes you no more than 1hr to do it using this method. If you're interested, let me know. I got an entire wheel bearing removal/installation kit + an electric impact wrench + hub remover. I could have it shipped to your door for $160 plus all of the pictures that I took during the removal/installation process on cd. The only benefit with this alternative method is time saving and get to keep your own tools.

Nmax92

the control arms you have, do they come with all the bushings installed? that was I can just swap them out. if so, i'm getting them

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

They come bushed and balled.
makes for a real easy install.

Nmax92

Do you think its better to get a new hub and control arm bushings first to see if it fixes the rubbing and camber problem? or is the rubbing mostly caused by the wheel bearing. I'm gonna start troubleshooting it fix it 100%. thanks for your GREAT help!!