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front wheel knocking and grinding


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On ‎7‎/‎29‎/‎2011 at 6:43 AM, GeneralDisorder said:

Yes - Napa probably does have a cheap Taiwan-made bearing for $15 - but it will be a plain 6207. It will not be a 6207-2RS-C3. The "-2RS" calls out a double-sealed bearing which will be pre-greased and sealed for life. The "-C3" component calls for an electric motor bearing internal clearance spec. If you simply go to a bearing supplier you will get 5 times the bearing (Japanese or US made) for the same money. You will also save on grease and mess as you need only apply a light grease to the new wheel seals, etc - since the 2RS bearings come pre-greased and sealed. This also provides further protection from the elements.

 

If you really want to never do wheel bearings again - get yourself a set of 7207's and set it up for axial thrust loading. Though you may have to play with shims on the inner race pre-load spacer to get it right. I found that a .001" shim ring on the spacer brought my hub temps right down where I wanted them after a test drive.

 

As far as greasing if you use open bearings - pack each bearing completely full and fill the chamber around the spacer about 1/3. Ideally you want about 1/3 of the chamber filled with grease when it heats up and flows. Too much grease is a bad thing as it doesn't allow for expansion. 1/3 chamber capacity is the standard for bearing greaseing.

 

GD

@GeneralDisorder You still stand by this recommendation, or have things changed in the last 9 years?  Are the 7207's worth the extra effort, or are the 6207-2RS-C3's the way to go?  I'm a little concerned that the grease in the C3's might not be as robust as the stuff I already have used for my WRX wheel bearings.

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2 hours ago, GeneralDisorder said:

I would do open race 7207's. They are available in much higher quality. I would use Amsoil synthetic waterproof grease. The open races allow more grease in the knuckle and you can control what grease gets used. 

GD

Made in Japan Nachi 7207 brgs:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/7207-Nachi-Angular-Contact-Bearing-Made-in-Japan/360246769483?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

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On 8/5/2011 at 3:57 AM, czaray said:

That would be great if it was only the hub:headbang: (Man, whoever made these smiley faces must have been on crack.) I looked at the splines when I took the hubs off, but maybe I should look a little closer when I mess with the brakes. BTW, how hard is it to change out the clutch and pressure plate in these Subaru's?

If your caliper piston is sticking, it can give you that clunking noise. I had to replace my passenger front caliper last year. Clutch and pressure plate is very simple on these, but in my experience it is easier to pull the engine than the transmission, especially if it's 4wd. I can have my engine unhooked, out, back in and running after about 4hrs (several years of old gen subaru wrenching lol). You will need an alignment tool for the clutch you can get about anywhere for $20 and the 2wd and 4wd clutches are different with different splines.

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I would recommend also rechecking the torque on your axle nut to be sure your new bearings have seated properly. These seem to need retorquing a time or two after initial installation in my experience and the slightest amount of freeplay will cause the bearings to be noisy and wear. Check your cv axles for possible damage. They are fairly simple to replace if needed.

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On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 2:57 PM, GeneralDisorder said:

I would do open race 7207's. They are available in much higher quality. I would use Amsoil synthetic waterproof grease. The open races allow more grease in the knuckle and you can control what grease gets used. 

GD

Alright, good to know.  I was going to run the Mobil 1 Mobilith SHC 220 I had leftover from doing my WRX wheel bearings (The Mobilith is safe for nylon bearing cages).  Is there a reason you prefer the Amsoil waterproof grease over their other grease applications?

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It's just what we use for pretty much everything. Never failed me yet. It's $9.50 a tube. Grease is cheap no matter what you buy so..... 

https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/grease/synthetic-water-resistant-grease/

Being an Amsoil dealer it's easy for me to get. EA wheel bearings are prone to water intrusion in my experience - especially in off-road environments.

GD

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  • 3 years later...
On 9/26/2019 at 11:01 AM, GeneralDisorder said:

Yeah the SKF seems to be the most common choice with brass race:

https://www.amazon.com/SKF-Universal-Mounting-Precision-Clearance/dp/B007VGKVFU

GD

I've been sitting on these bearings for a while and finally got around to installing them.  The passenger's side went back together without issue but the driver's side doesn't seem to be torqueing/pre-loading properly and the entire CV/hub/wheel assembly can rock in the bearings, even when torqued to spec.  I tried over-torqueing the axle nut, with no effect.  I installed a different knuckle with different 7207s (same hub) installed with a press instead of drifting them in, and it feels like it might even be a little more loose.

Spring washer is new, cone washer might be as well, but I don't recall.  Axle is not original, but is an older, quality replacement, not the new, failure-prone crap.

What am I doing wrong or not recognizing?

 

Edited by carfreak85
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  • 5 weeks later...

Swapped in a control knuckle from the JY with stock bearings.  Wobble eliminated...

I tried to look up orientation instructions for the 7027 bearings, but was only finding dimensional specs, so gave up, leaving two LF knuckles with 7207s installed sitting on my bench.

Front axle CVs are both notchy (OEM axle is much worse, surprisingly), so out come the NOS EA82T front axles along with inner DOJs supplied by @Nico.

More to come when it's back on the ground.  Got sidetracked grafting a new bellows onto the inner shift boot.

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