Wheel bearing?

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:24 am

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On slow, left hand turns there is a creaking and occasional pop sound from the left rear suspension. I dont know if its 'clicking' - i'd call it creaking.
It also occurs on occasion when coming to a stop, or just when the car is taking off accelerating (ie, when the weight falls back on the rear)

I took the rim off and tried flexing various parts.

With the car jacked up, holding the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, there is play in the rim (ie, side to side, horizontal play). There is no movement whatsoever at 12 and 6 o/clock (up/down). Holding the 3 and 9 o clock positions, and pulling on 3'oclock replicates the creaking sound. The wheel does not need to be turning.

There is no discernible wheel bearing issue sound when spinning the rim (such as a metallic scraping or anything like that).

Is this a bad bearing or CV joint?

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:18 pm

Any ideas?
Its the rear wheel, so not sure about TRE.

Postby **NitroDann** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:23 pm

Ive got a few 1.6 cv's if you need one.

Loose suspension adjustment bolt id say.

Dann

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:52 pm

Thanks Dann
Ill figure out which bolt that is and try tightening it up.
Also worth noting that the wheel in question has more camber wear than the other side.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 4:09 pm

In that case, it's probably one of the camber botls on the lower control arm.

They can over time wear a bit and lose their ability to stay put.

Try tightening it (check the alignment too) and see if that fixes it. (don't use loctite, if you must, choose a weak one, it's designed to be loosened during a wheel alignment)

if not, it might be time to replace the bolt.

you can check alignment with a ruler, a string line, and a spirit level.

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 4:36 pm

Thanks gents
Will try suggestions tonight

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:21 pm

Update;
THINK i have located the location of the creak. See attachment. The 'arm' connecting to the hub is not dead centre - i sit suppose to be?
The bit of grease i put there. Its not a leak or anything.
The bolt is not noticeably loose (though im not sure how much torque is needed on these bolts). When i grab the hub and pull it either left or right, i can hear it creak. If i pull the right side of the hub, it creaks louder (ie, pushing the 'arm' towards the side where there is less/no space). If i pull the left, it only creaks a bit then stops creaking.
What is that bolt and whats inside that arm that the bolt goes through?

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:06 pm

Take 2
Did some more research and more flexing of the assembly, this time with a bar
The noise is actually coming from (i think) the CV joint on the rear. Putting a bar between this and the lower control arm and flexing creates the creak.
Im not 100% convinced (see previous post) because the noise is more appaarent if im pushing the hub to the left (note, its my rear passenger wheel)
How can i be sure? The boot itself looks in great condition.

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:07 pm

Picture attached.

wiztek · Postby **wiztek** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:26 pm

With my 40th google chrome tab open researching CV joints i had an epiphany.
If flexing bw the lower control arm and the cv joint is creating the noise, and the cv joint looks absolutely fine (boot looks great), what could be causing the noise........the lower control arm.
The giant bolt along the bottom was loose

I was sure i had tightened it up when i was doing the rear pads. Its tight now and theres no creaking when flexing the arms as there previously was :lol:

Havent dríven it yet but im stoked

Hope this helps someone else!