mike-lists@tepidcola.com wrote:
> Proof that both God and my Dakota hate me:
>
> on my way to Tully NY today (20ish miles south of Syracuse), I get an odd
> vibe. Being as familiar as I am with the consequences of odd vibrations, I
> limp off 690 and check it out. All ujoints seem fine, the left front tire
> spins fine, etc (problem seemed centered at the left front tire area). Still
> an odd vibration above about 30mph unless I'm on the brakes - or locked in 4wd
> and on the gas....
>
> Seemed to me to point to a bad CV in that corner - especially since turning
> also affected the noise that soon became apparent. I limped along to my
> friend's place here in Tully, and pulled the drive axle, figuring that I could
> then get back to Rochester with a 3-wheel drive capable truck no problem.
> right? wrong.
>
> Got the shaft pulled, put the tire back on, and headed out for a quick test
> drive. Ran it up to about 55, and got no vibe. I figured my problem was
> solved. Then I made a right turn onto the second road of my square circut.
> And the noise was back - but different. Instead of sounding like a clicking
> with a bit of squeak, it sounded like a rubber-on-steel creaking. WTF? I
> drove back and forth, and Casey looked for the source of the noise. I had
> Casey drive back and forth, and I looked for the source of the noise. No
> rubbing seen, nothing out of place, no ideas....
>
> Then I got the jack back out, lifted that tire off the ground, and found my
> problem: bad hub bearing - the wheel was wobbling horribly, and looking at the
> back of the knuckle I could see that it was all the bearing's fault. I tried
> riding the brakes to hold the tire on and limp it back home, but that only
> worked for about a mile of the needed 2.5. Little damage done when the hub
> came off since I was doing less than 5mph and felt it let loose - just the
> brake pads and pulling the caliper out of alignment.
>
> Hit up Advance Auto in Cortland to the tune of $305 for a new bearing/hub
> assy, caliper, pins and pads. Need to go back tomorrow with my old caliper to
> get a $55 core back, and to pick up the new caliper - it was the only part I
> needed that they didn't have in stock.
>
> Lesson learned: if you think you might have a bad CV, don't just pull the
> shaft and test drive the truck - if it's actually a bad bearing, you'll give it
> the chance to fully fail since there's no longer anything retaining the hub.
>
> Which brings me to my one and only question from this "ordeal": *should* the
> lack of that shaft have caused the bearing to fail, or would the bearing have
> to have been bad to begin with? I certainly expect that the bearing being bad
> would have to have been a pre-existing condition, but just for the record I'd
> like to know if I was wrong about that.
ewwwwwww dude - you didn't read my page on Christine about this
situation did ya? :-(
http://members.aol.com/silvereightynine/christine/buildup/
I did the same thing last year to test the shifting of the tranny prior
to teh 2003 DML BBQ, while I was building her up. The halfshafts were
out of the front end - and I drove it around the block a few times -
heard a not so nice noise and then drive home. As I was driving across
the lawn - I got just infront of The Swamp when the drivers side wheel
just fell off and the truck made like a lawndart. I jacked her up -
hammered the wheel and hub back into the other half of the hub on the
knuckle, drove her into the garage.
The spindle nut that threads onto teh end of the halfshaft - is critical
for keeping that wheel bearing and hub together. Especially on an older
bearing/hub assembly as we both found out. (that was my origial hub on
christine that failed - the passenger side was a year old.
I'm willing to bet it was your halfshaft that was origially the cause.
I believe this because removing it stopped your vibration. I'm suprised
the hub held up at 55MPH at all, with the shaft out.
I'm just glad you didn't lose control and wreck. The possible carnage
factor of loosing a wheel at 55 MPH is not pretty. Someone out there
must like us Dodge Boys! LOL Our guardian angels probably have high
blood pressure and chronic migranes. LOL
-- -------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Countdown to 2004 DML BBQ *FIVE* Days Left! *****Terrible Tom -- AIM & Yahoo Name: SilverEightynine http://members.aol.com/silvereightynine/
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