Vibration, shaking steering wheel after front wheel bearing/brake job

[augie]

Hello,

I have a 04 Mazda B2300 2 wheel drive that I just finished replacing the front brakes, rotor/hubs, and front wheel bearings on. I took it for a test drive and at about 45 MPH the steering wheel shakes slightly back and forth, and there's a vibration feeling that progressively gets worse as speed increases.

The details of the job:

I brought the old rotor/hubs (the hub is built into the rotor) to the parts store to have turned, and was told they were "non serviceable" so I bought brand new ones for about $50 each. They matched up the size of the rotors with my old ones since there is more than one size apparently. I bought new bearings\seals\pads\hardware kit\bearing grease there as well. I've never replaced a rotor that had the hub built into it, and these ones that I got from the parts store had new bearing races already pressed into them. I checked each rotor thoroughly to make sure they pressed the races all the way down and seated. When it came to installing the new bearings, I initially torqued the bearing nut to 25ft lbs, then backed it off a half-turn (basically making it loose again), then torquing the bearing nut to 20 inch lbs with a snap-on torque-o-meter I had from previous transmission work (it only goes up to 30 inch lbs.) The nut is pretty much on hand tight, but there's no play in the rotor, or the wheel once the wheel was mounted. The caliper guides were cleaned up and new guide seals put on them, with new caliper grease. They move freely, and I also payed close attention to which guide pin goes where in the caliper (there's a little black rubber thing on the end one of the guide pins for each side).

Taking the car for a test drive - the brakes feel great, and don't drag. The calipers aren't sticking at all. I used a dial indicator on a magnetic base to try measuring the runout on the rim of the front wheels to try and see if there's a wobble in the wheel due to the new rotor/hub that was put on or something that wasn't seating correctly. The measurements I got from the front matched the rear tires - so I don't think there's a wobble in the wheel.

I'm at a complete loss, and have no idea what could be causing the issue. I could return the rotor/hubs and get new ones from the parts store - but I guess I'm not convinced they're the problem yet... Maybe they are... There was a tiny bit of play in the rotor/hubs PRIOR to me replacing them. I'm wondering if replacing the parts on the truck has changed the geometry somehow of something... Although I've never seen this happen before.

Has anyone had problems like this? Does anyone have any suggestions to what I could check next? I'm thinking about taking the truck down to Les Schwab and seeing if they can see where the problem is...

Thanks!

 

[tekkatekka]

Only thing I can think of is to tighten the wheel bearings again. They can loosen up initially after greasing. I have never used a torque wrench. Just tighten the nut till it binds the rotor from spinning free and then back off just enough for no bind. It is easier to do without the brake pads installed. After the wheel lug nuts are tightened I grab the tire at 6 and 12 oclock and rock in and out, to see if there is any play. (you could try that now with the car jacked up) The other thing is make sure all the lug nuts are seated properly. Hope this might help.

 

[Doofy]

I was told to always pitch the bearing races that come with the rotor/hub and install the races that come with the new bearings as they are a matched set. Not sure if this is true or not...

 

[black_demon69]

Only thing I can think of is to tighten the wheel bearings again. They can loosen up initially after greasing. I have never used a torque wrench. Just tighten the nut till it binds the rotor from spinning free and then back off just enough for no bind. It is easier to do without the brake pads installed. After the wheel lug nuts are tightened I grab the tire at 6 and 12 oclock and rock in and out, to see if there is any play. (you could try that now with the car jacked up) The other thing is make sure all the lug nuts are seated properly. Hope this might help.

what he said

 

[txgocartB3000]

Truthfully I have also done it by feel method.

But if you are using a torque wrench I would assume foot pounds and not inch pounds for the measurements.

But I could be wrong.

Ray

 

[Haywire6000]

I always do it with the feel method. I also agree with using the races that come with the new bearings, not the ones that com already in the new rotor.

 

[twfmvm]

+1 i was told by a long time mechanic always replace the race with the bearing.

And in general with such small-clearance parts you need to make sure they were made together so they will wear evenly together. But if that could cause vibration is a whole other story.

You should be able to feel if a wheel bearing is rubbing by feeling the temperature of each hub after a decent drive.

At the same time i would think you would be seeing grease shooting out of the offending wheel if it was a bearing problem, but not in minor cases. If you have a hot wheel though i think you need new bearings AND races.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Big Jim M]

About 99% of front vibration is caused by the tires! Are the same tires on the same side of the vehicle? What could have gone wrong there?
Big Jim

 

[augie]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Just woke up and reviewed everyone's posts.

There's absolutely no play in either wheel, and after driving 15 minutes on the freeway - neither side was hotter than the other, or gave any indication that there was additional friction somewhere.

Lug nuts have been checked, along with making sure the wheel is on flush.

Yeah I should know better about the bearing races. I would agree with those that said you should knock the ones out the come with rotor, and install the ones that come with the bearing. I have a shop press, I was just being lazy...

I think at this point, I'm going to make O'Reilly auto parts eat the cost of these rotors, and have them replaced with a better brand. I could take it all apart and switch the bearing races, but I don't want to do this job a 3rd time... Life is busy!

Thanks again guys for all the info - I'll update you as soon as I switch these rotors out.

 

[augie]

@Big Jim M

Just saw this post. The tires were put on the same exact wheel they came off. I never mix those up. I did try rotating the tires for the heck of it after the job, and still experienced the same problem. Wheel weights are still attached to the wheels.

 

[enjr44]

I used to believe you had to take the races out of the new rotors and replace it with the ones that came with the bearing. Until I saw how bearings were made. Maybe 75 years ago the bearing was matched to the race. Today, they make a thousand races and a thousand bearings, slap them together, box them, and ship. So for the last twenty years or so I have not bothered to replace them.

I've never had a problem.

 

[enjr44]

45 mph is a little low for an out of balance tire to show. Can, just not usual (55-65). The only thing I can suggest is to do the bearing torque over.

Bearings slightly loose is really not at problem. Back in the day, when disk brakes first appeared, they didn't wear very well (didn't last long). So mechanics would adjust the bearings just a tad loose so when going around a corner, the wheel would push the pads back away from the disk. Days gone by!!!

 

[augie]

Problem identified

Hey guys,

Tonight I broke the wheels down to the bare rotors in preparation to just remove them completely and return them. Without the calipers, or caliper bracket installed I turned the rotors and felt a drag, and metallic scrape. Nothing visible from the outside, but once I took the rotor completely off, the heatsink thing or whatever that circle piece is attached to the backside of the rotor was rubbing against a small metal lug behind the rotor (see pictures). This was the case on both wheels. I tried playing around with re-torquing the bearings but every time I got things centered and tightened down, the metal part would rub again.

I never really payed any attention to the sound because by the time I spun the rotor around, the wheel was already installed and I figured that sound was just the brake pads against the rotor.

Going to take these back and get a different brand...

 

[97RangerXLT]

Yeah that is your abs sensor and it should not touch the rotor...

AJ

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 while sitting in my underwear

 

[97RangerXLT]

You might be able to shim the sensor to back it off some

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 while sitting in my underwear