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89 Reatta front hub and bearing questions


waltmail

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I have the rolling groan coming from the front. If I turn the wheel left it minimizes. Does this indicate left or right side problem or indicate nothing? Are the left and right side hub assy's interchangeable or specific L/R? Anyone ever taken one apart and replaced the bearing and or race only?

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I have the rolling groan coming from the front. If I turn the wheel left it minimizes. Does this indicate left or right side problem or indicate nothing? Are the left and right side hub assy's interchangeable or specific L/R? Anyone ever taken one apart and replaced the bearing and or race only?

If it minimizes when you turn the wheel left, then it's the left bearing. All to do with which wheel you're shifting the weight to. The more weight on the bad wheel, the more it groans.

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So if I turn the wheel to steer left I am putting more weight on the left bearing or the right bearing? That is when the noise minimizes?

When you make a left turn (or merge left), you're loading up the right bearing, and unloading the left bearing. you end up having less weight on the left bearing and making it groan less.,

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You really should replace both sides the other one is not far behind. Mibearings.com has the best price on timkin the only way to go, (made in USA)

What I want to do is replace the bad one with the new unit, then see if I can actually service the old one by replacing the bearing only. Just an experiment.

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Guest Richard D

I hate to contradict however mine was doing the same thing several months ago and I thought it was the left (drivers)side hub. My mechanic put it on a lift with a helper in the drivers seat and listened to the hubs with a stethascope and it turned out to be the right side. Apparently when the hub was loaded it took up the play in the bearing. Will your mechanic do the same thing? FYI I bought a Timken hub. Good luck.

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My experience is that if it only whines in a turn, it is the loaded side bearing but if it whines both in a straight line and in a turn, it is the unloaded bearing. Or maybe the other one.

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  • 4 months later...

Finally got around to replacing the passenger side hub. Used Ronnie's write up on the procedure and it was spot on. Didn't need the hub puller tool. The symptom was a groaning noise that went away when steered with left pressure. Got increasingly worse with time. Bought the part from Rock Auto for $38. Less than an hours worth of work. Make sure you have a T 55 Torx bit. Used a 1 3/8" socket for the axle nut. Took it for a test ride and the silence was sweet to my ears. Thanks for the write up Ronnie.

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Guest MercWagn
...timkin the only way to go, (made in USA)

A point on the ancillary comment above:

If you think 'made in the USA' actually means something (or if there is really such a thing anymore--where was the steel of the bearing made?), then you might want to pay close attention to your Timken bearings, since they are not always 'made in the USA'. I have seen Timken bearings made in Mexico, Japan, and other places--and they worked just fine.

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Finally got around to replacing the passenger side hub. Used Ronnie's write up on the procedure and it was spot on. Didn't need the hub puller tool. The symptom was a groaning noise that went away when steered with left pressure. Got increasingly worse with time. Bought the part from Rock Auto for $38. Less than an hours worth of work. Make sure you have a T 55 Torx bit. Used a 1 3/8" socket for the axle nut. Took it for a test ride and the silence was sweet to my ears. Thanks for the write up Ronnie.
I'm glad to hear the write up helped you. That is a really low price for the hub. Much better price than I have seen anywhere. What brand was it?
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I'm glad to hear the write up helped you. That is a really low price for the hub. Much better price than I have seen anywhere. What brand was it?

Timken # 513059. It was a close out special I bought about 4 months ago. Nice feature with Rock Auto is that once you purchase something vehicle specific, they send close out special notices through an e mail direct to you. I just bought 2 sets of Wagner brake pads for $ 2.68 each set.

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