I have had a vibration coming from my front end for a while now, and it has been getting worse recently. It got to the point where it was vibrating the floorpans, the gas pedal, everything, and i could really feel it in the steering wheel. I couldn't stand the noise anymore so I decided to figure out what it was. It turned out that the inner wheel bearing on the drivers side was shot. If any of you guys have a vibration from the front end, you might want to check for this. Heres how to check:

1.) Jack the front end up so the wheels are off the ground (you know the drill, blocks behind the back wheels, jack stands, etc.)

2.) push inward (towards the engine) on the top of the wheel, and if the wheel moves any (tilting inward) then you need to chekc the bearings in that wheel. Do both front wheels this way. If the wheel does not tilt, then your bearings are most likely good.

3.) If the wheel did tilt, pull the wheel off. Now pop off the grease cap in the center of the rotor. You can carefully pry it off with a screwdriver. Now pull the cotter pin out of the castle nut on the spindle, and remove th castle nut. Now you can pull out the front wheel bearing. Set it aside, we will need it in a minute.

4.) If your brake pads need replacing now would be a good time to do it since the caliper has to come off anyway. Pull the caliper off, this requires an allen wrench, but you can also buy a special socket with an allen head for GM brakes, which makes this much easier. Once the caliper is off, remove the rotor. Inside the rotor you will see the inner wheel bearing behind a rubber seal. They both may be buried in grease, but they are there. Pull out the inner wheel bearing from the rotor. It should just pull out, but you may need to pry it out with a screwdriver.

3.)Now we can inspect the parts to see if they need replacing. First, get some engine degreaser and clean all the grease from the wheel bearings. Now look inside the rotor, and there is a seat where the inner wheel bearing sits. This is called the race. Clean it off with degreaser. It should be perfectly smooth with no scars or pitting. Now after cleaning the bearings, look at the rollers, they should be smooth as well, pit no scarring or pitting. My inner wheel looked like the rollers had been sand blasted. If either bearing is bad, repalce it. If the race in the rotor is bad, replace the rotor.

4.) If you replace a bearing, you must pack it with grease before you reinstall. To do this, put grease in the palm of your hand, and roll the bearing in your hand until the bearing is full of grease. Do this for the inner and outer bearings.

5.) Put all the parts back together, dont forget the washer which goes between the castle nut and the outer wheel bearing, its easy to forget and leave. Tighten the castle nut down hand tight, then about 1/8 turn with a ratchet. I belive its a 1 1/8" nut.

I know this look complicated when its written down, but its not that hard. It cost me $28 for a new inner wheel bearing and new front brake pads from Autozone. Autozone sells a few different brands of bearings, but I wouldnt reccomend the cheapie $4.99 ones. Also, this will take a few hours, it took me about 3 hours.



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1983 Firebird
TH700R4 Auto
Small Block 400
LG4 ECM, Intake, Carb, Distributor, etc.
Soon to be non-computer.
Clarion Head Unit 45X4
2 Pioneer 400W 12" Subs
Third Gen Performance
"A four cylinder is half an engine."
"Ponies can run, but birds can fly..."

 

Ward, thanks for taking the time to write this up. I found it really helpful as I'm halfway through the job myself.

Cheers,
Felix

 

Thank you for the good info, i will be checking out mine tonight.