Front wheel Wobble

[tbe2002]

About 2 months ago I did the front breaks on my 93 explorer. I replaced the rotors, wheel bearings and pads. When I put everything back together I did torque everything do to specs. Well last night I jacked up the front end to see if there was any movement. Holding the wheel at the 10 and 2 position it moved a little. I then stuck my head under the truck to see if I could see where it was coming from. It is not coming from ball joints or tie rod ends. I can look in the wheel and see the rotor moving as I wiggle it back and forth.

Now there is not alot of movement and I haven't noticed any driving difference. There is no uneven tire ware so far that I can see. My question is, is it normal for there to be a little movement in the rotor/ bearing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[walterd140]

Tire should not move. Sounds like your bearings came loose. Time to take the tire & hub off & re-tighten.

Did you double torque? That's where you torque to spec, loosen, then torque to spec again.

Walter

 

[wolfnutts]

to 2002 post i asume thats the year of ur trk ??? if so u dont have a separate bearing an hub its all one unit an rotor just slides on to it so if this is the case an u never recheaked ur lug nuts after a few hundred miles id say that is were ur problem is
if u had tire off when u looked it over yes the rotor would move around abit . retighen lug nuts an have someone step on brakes while u try ur test for any play
hope this takes helps )

 

[DeRocha]

Tire should not move. Sounds like your bearings came loose. Time to take the tire & hub off & re-tighten.

Did you double torque? That's where you torque to spec, loosen, then torque to spec again.

Walter

As Walter has stated did you initially seat the wheel bearings by torquing the hub nut to 35ft/lbs while spinning the rotor? You'd then back off the nut 1/4 turn and then re-torque to 16 in/lbs (thats 1.34 ft/lbs {basically hand tight without using a wrench})... I am assuming you re-installed the spindle nut key correct?

 

[tbe2002]

Yeah the truck is a 93, so it is not a sealed bearing. I did replace the spindle nut key. I did tighten it then backed it off and then just tightened it by hand. It is tight until I start to drive then it comes back. Humm. I guess I will have to take it all apart again and do it over. I have an e bay set of hubs coming anyways. I am just worried about over tightening it

 

[wolfnutts]

opps how i miss u saying it was a 93 ur working on i must left half my brain in dream land this morning lol

 

[mikeinri]

DeRocha's method is correct. I tend to go a little tighter, maybe to the next available key slot, making sure the rotor will still spin by hand.

It's also possible (though quite unlikely) that your spindle is bad...

Mike

 

[Minivek]

wobbling from the front wheels is pretty much wheel bearings or ball joints. To check for balljoint looseness you have to grab the wheel at 12-6 o'clock (straight up and down) rock the wheel and check (visually) for movement at the lower ball joint first as the usually wear faster than the upper balljoints. Also, if the wheel bearing got loose, you'll see it right away because that big nut will rock loosely (very slightly) on either side of that key that's inserted in the nut.

 

[tbe2002]

Yeah i am sure it is the bearings. I had to tighten it once already that is the only reason I was worried about overtighening it. This weekend I will take it all apart again and tighten it down.

I love this truck, it is coming along pretty well. I have done the radius arm bushings, front breaks and fixed the 4x4 all thanks to this site. I still need to do the rear breaks, tie rod ends, shocks all the way around. Then eventully I will need to replace the trans. The auto is on its way out. Not bad though for 165,000 miles. I plan to keep this for a long time to come.

Thanks to all for making this site what it is.