Lost the PS front wheel bearing, not completely, but it's toast.

 

Heard some noise Tuesday morning heading to work when I went around a long righthand curve. Thought it was just tire rubbing on the ice in the wheel well. Knocked it out at lunch.

 

Yesterday, same curve, same noise, only some shaking of the steering wheel also.

 

Same this morning, but trip home going opposite way thru curve I got noise and shaking of steering wheel. Rest of trip home, steering felt loose.

 

So, once again the '86 BRAT is parked.

 

I hate to do it, but I'll be driving the '85 until I manage repairs on the '86.

 

Supposed to be some decent weather next few days, so I may manage to not get the '85 covered in road salt.....

Edited February 22, 200917 yr by TomRhere

Wheel bearings arrived yesterday. Ordered all 4.

 

Seals won't be here until Tuesday though.

 

 

I hates snail mail..........

What brand did you order?

that kind of sounds like the time I had a cv joint go bad very quickly, it went from a light ticking noise in parking lots to completely undriveable in two days

 

the thing that was kind of wild was that it would leap/jump/pull to the right but it was the left side that was gone

What brand did you order?

 

 

Timken 207's from rockauto.com

What I used in my BRAT. I worked for the bearing company INA for 3 years and Harley-Davidson would order the 6207 bearings by the hundreds. The 6 denoted it came with a seal I believe.

Seals arrived yesterday, (along with new accelerator cable). So work can begin now.

Be sure to remove all the old grease from the knuckle before installing the new bearings. It's best to use brake parts cleaner, it doesn't leave a residue behind. It's a good time to take the brake pads out and scratch them off with some emory cloth, the rotors too to get the glaze off.

 

Next time you do wheel bearing, get the 6207 2rs, it has a rubber seal on each side. You pop one seal out and install the bearing with the remaining seal on the outside of the knuckle, next to the wheel seal. this way the dirst has two seals to get passed before getting into the bearing.

The good thing about our wheel bearings is that it's a common size used in lawn mowers and washing machines among other things. So they're usually cheap and easy to find.

http://cgi.ebay.com/6207-2RS-Neptune-Washer-Bearing-35x72-C3-ABEC3_W0QQitemZ220355664198QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item220355664198&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/6207-2RS-6207-RS-6207RS-6207-35X72X17-BEARINGS-4-PCS_W0QQitemZ120371865857QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0

Michigan Rocks !!!!!!!!! wish i had more time , id come down and help ya, i havnt even seen a brat in Michigan in years, i kinda forgot what they look like

Good luck man

 

 

Smashedwagon88

 

i have to drive a ford now for a few days

As much as I dislike Fords,,,, I think I'd rather be driving one now rather than drive the '85 BRAT and be getting salt spray all over it. It's in to nice of body condition for that......

 

I won't be working on it until Saturday, just don't have the time after I get home from work during the week. Bossman won't like it, but I'm taking Saturday off, just to have an extra day to get things done. There's a few other items I need to work on while I have it in the garage.

 

 

Yeah, BRATs are a rarity around these parts. Besides the 3 I own, I know of only 3 others here in the lower part of Michigan. Haven't seen them myself, but have spoke with 2 of the owners via the web. The owners have been on this site in the past. Was told about the 3rd one by a co-worker.

 

Out of the 5 BRATs I've owned, only 1 was from here originally. The others all came from out-state. I bought the '85 up in the Traverse Bay area, but it's out of the Arizona/Nevada area originally according to papers I found in it.

If you're ever in the Detroit area with that brat it would be a treat to see a local one in person! Too bad you aren't closer by, I have a nice hub tamer for those bearings plus a tool to pull the axle through.

 

Hopefully it goes smoothly for you. It isn't any fun to be working on cars during the winter time!

 

-Doug

Went out to Jerry's place today to do work. He has a 4 car "heated" garage, with lift.....

 

With some argument, I got the PS done. Mostly was rusty bolts, but things wanted to be stubborn.

 

 

Went to the DS.

 

Dammitttt!!!!!!!!!!

Had to argue with the hub bolts, then the E-brake cable. THEN,,,,,,,,,

The Pinchbolt for the balljoint rounded off. AaaaaaaUuuuuuuuuGH!!!!!

 

Okay, I can work around this.

 

 

NOT!!!!

 

 

Seems the ball-joint is also bad. So so much for doing the DS bearings.

 

 

Put stuff removed back where it belongs and drove home.

 

Hunting through "parts stash" I found another knuckle assembly, good tie-rod end. Best of all,,, I was able to remove a "new at that time" ball-joint I had installed in the '82 BRAT, "without" damaging the boot...

 

Be heading back out to Jerry's in the AM..

Got the DS done today.

 

In my haste lastnight, hunting for another knuckle, seems I grabbed a PS one. D'OH!!!

 

Anyways, I removed the knuckle from the BRAT and argued the bolt out. Swapped bearings and seals, installed good ball-joint.

 

We be good to go now...........

 

 

Edit;

 

Just for kicks and giggles, I cleaned all the old bearings. The ones from the PS were both bad. One was loose, the other had bad spots in it when I rolled it around. DS ones felt okay, but who knows how many miles are on them........

Edited February 22, 200917 yr by TomRhere

I always thought it was just me, but all of the Subarus I have had ate the passenger front wheel bearing. Is there any reason for this one to go like that?

I always thought it was just me, but all of the Subarus I have had ate the passenger front wheel bearing. Is there any reason for this one to go like that?

 

Isn't that the 'drive' side that gets the most torque?

I always thought it was just me, but all of the Subarus I have had ate the passenger front wheel bearing. Is there any reason for this one to go like that?

 

One possible cause on this one is, the PS caliper decided to hangup on me a couple months ago. Probally degraded the grease a bit, and cooked the seals allowing junk to get in there.