Jesse Arnold <jarnoldsolonis> wrote:
>
>Well, about a month ago, I started hearing the noise, which I thought was
>my wheel bearing going out (or cv joint), took it
>to the dealer, and in record time, they could not reproduce,
[snip]

Let me give a personal experience tip here for those who might
be in a similar situation.  [Translation: Somebody puh-lease
put this in the archives if it isn't covered already.]

When you suspect a bad front wheel bearing, have the repair
shop loosen the driveshaft nuts and then spin it.  I had
a front bearing go south, and was shaking the wheel on
the jack with no play in the bearing to be felt.  There
was no binding or rough feeling when I turned the wheel,
either.  When I took it in to Jack's shop and told him
that the wheel felt fine, the first thing that he did was
loosen up the driveshaft nuts.  The driveshafts were holding
the bearings in, and taking up the slack.  With the nuts
loose, it was obvious that one bearing was toast.  Unfortunately,
the bad bearing took the hub with it in my case.....

- -Arthur

On Wednesday, February 2, 2000 7:52:06 AM, SHANE wrote:

> OK, about 6 mo ago I replaced my LF wheel bearing and strut bearings and now I
have like 2in of play in my left front wheel and a mech says I need to do
them again. what the fuck is wrong with my car!!!!! why? is it because I
drive it hard as hell? thanks
> <)----------Shane----------(>
If the axle nut is not tightened properly, the bearing will fail. I'd guess
that this is why your bearing has gone bad-it's a fairly common thing. If
the proper procedure isn't followed, the nut can loosen itself and cause
premature failure. The fact that there's that much play indicates that the
bearing *and* hub assembly more than likely both need to be replaced. As
Arthur mentioned, it's nearly impossible to feel free play in the bearing if
the axle nut is tight, so if you felt this without taking anything apart,
that's a sure sign the nut was loose.
Chris

"SHANE" <FASTJETTAVR6hotmail> wrote:
>
>OK, about 6 mo ago i replaced my LF wheel bearing and stut
>bearings and now i have like 2in of play in my left front
>wheel and a mech says i need to do them again. what the fuck
>is wrong with my car!!!!!

There's nothing wrong with your car.  The problem is your
mechanic!  Whoever did the bearing didn't torque the axle
nut properly, or else failed to put the proper axle nut
locking hardware back on.  I saw an A3 Golf 8V with this
exact same problem.  Two weeks earlier, the dealer replaced
the tranny and driveshaft.  Guess what wasn't even on
finger tight???  Get thee back to your mechanic ASAP,
and tell them that they *will* fix it for free.

>why? is it because i drive it hard as hell?

All bets are off if you've got aftermarket wheels, but my
former VR6 went through one bearing in 94K miles of
ownership.  It was the most abused VR6 on this list,
being driven on 2 or 3 wheels every weekend, with -2.5
camber and 1/8" toe out, and on tires that would let
it peak at over 1.1g's of lateral force.....

- -Arthur ("Why did I even buy 4 race tires?" edition)