troubleshooting a clacking. found something interesting..
 

while troubleshooting a clacking from the rear passenger side of the car i found this at my rear hub:

http://gallery.502streetscene.net/da...m/PICT1042.JPG

ANY time there is ANY movement in the rear passenger side of my car, there is a "clack" that has been bugging the piss out of me for a year now... could this have anything to do with it?

i also have my AGX/RB shock/spring off and it seems to be assembled correctly, other than the spring being upside down.

anyone have any input?

Wheel bearing fucked?


-Ted

yeah thats what i'm thinking... but would that have anything to do with the clacking?

it could... not hard to find out! take it out and see how it looks, if it looks fine then clean up the bearing and repack it and throw it back in!

is it a constant clacking on low speed???..almost like a cowbell sound??..

nah it doesnt sound like a cowbell, more like tapping the top of the shock lightly with a hammer or something. kinda metal on metal, but not a hollow cowbell sound.

but yes, there is a constant clicking associated with this (i'm assuming) at low speed

subtle

that wouldnt clack

How much play can you feel in the bearing?

I wonder how long until the wheel falls off?
This reminds me to be happy under 300HP.

i'm going to just go get a used hub/knuckle off my buddy's partsFC today so i dont have to mess with all this wheelbearing stuff right now

my bet is on a crapped out wheel bearing or the nut just worked itself loose, try re torquing the axle nut and take it for a drive.

the axle nut is torqued and the ceramic washer/spacer is behind there. you can see where the axle was hubbing the inside of the hub, so i think the bearing is definitely fubar'd

you did try torquing it right? the nut can appear to be torqued though it may not be fully seated, due to the double ball bearing design it doesn't take much for slack in the nut for the bearing to become extremely sloppy.

locknuts shouldnt work their way loose... thats the whole point of a lock nut

you'd be surprised how many i have found that came loose over the years, granted they were not RX7 specific but on all makes and models.

it probably is a wheel bearing but i'm just saying, just because it looks like it is torqued doesn't mean it is.

if you have an air compressor and impact gun it only takes a few seconds to double check it.

I once had the same type of noise but in the front end,wheel bearing was the culprit.

Put the rear of the car on jackstands, start the car, and put it in gear. You'll hear right away if its a bearing. Hell, just spinning the tire with your hand should tell you if its a wheel bearing or not. Spin the wheels and start tugging on things - see what, if anything, moves when it shouldn't and listen to any weird noises. Get a shop manual, rinse, lather, repeat...

Is this a good idea? Just asking.

No, this is certainly not a good idea. Lots of people do it, but i certainly wouldn't advise it.

i've done it so much, secure the car properly on jacks and put the car in gear, the wheel will move and you can analyze. but the problem with diagnosing probs like this is that without 2000+ lbs on that wheel often problems will hide themselves. it sounds like a wheel bearing, mine did something very similar, does this clacking sound get faster as your speen increases? if you have a used hub throw it on there ive had a Wheel bearing blow out, trust me you dont want this to happen to you!