Shake, rattle but still rolling 78 4wheel 150

[shortbed]

It may be my front wheels bearings. When I last checked the front passenger wheel had that wheel bearing play in it and those tires get worn out pretty fast. I took a stab at changing the bearings a year ago and chickened out. Now . . . it seems . . . I have no choice. About a week ago it started this terrible shaking, like that tire was going over a rumble strip, and its getting worse, barely made it home today.
So I thought I would ask you guys:
COULD IT BE ANYTHING ELSE
and will you give me advice if I get into this and get stuck.
The whole thing is on the outer limits of my mechanic's skills. I've never pulled calipers off or changed bearings.

 

[bowhunter]

I believe the proper term is the Death Wobble

 

[Mil1ion]

torn belt in the tire ?

 

[shortbed]

Got into it

I've pulled everything out of the hub down to that large nut part that needs the four pronged tool to be removed.
Tomorrow I'm going to pull the brake caliper and look for that tool
I guess I have to pull the rotor,
pull the bearings and replace them (I have a new one and the seal)
repack it all and try to put it back the way I pulled it.
I think my manual said 50 pounds of torque on that nut

So even though my king pin looks mighty old and worn to me, I'm going with bearings as a fix.

Any thoughts on all this?

 

[Truckin4life]

when you get to the bearing, you will know if they are the cause, if they are and you have the described symptoms you will be lucky to find a full set of bearings there. They will look WAY worse then the new set, if the bearings appear nearly the same, then its not your wheel bearings...

 

[shortbed]

Hey Don

That's just the information I needed because I still have some doubts. There doesn't seem to be that much play in the tire. There is play, but it only feels like maybe a quarter of an inch or so--back and forth, but maybe with a truck on top of it going forty miles an hour . . . that's enough.
I'll let you know, Don, and thanks.

Jim

 

[Mil1ion]

Look for a broken sidewall ...aka: a Torn Steel Belt

It will appear as a dimple.

This happens all the time to older tires

 

[Truckin4life]

What way does the tire have play in?

from the hub is it up and down? or left to right?


Either way your that far in, its a good idea to do the wheel bearings regardless.

Im not up to snuff on the dents, but what about tie rod ends? they get loose and could give you the same feeling... depends on what your steering set up is like.

also if that doesnt fix it, try rotating your tires, if it goes away with a tire rotation, youve got a broken belt. (ive done this by hitting a curb at like 30 mph, could get the same effect from a big pot hole at speed or something similar (4x4 on the free way?)

just some ideas.
Hope it all works out for you, give us an update as to what you find and we can likely help you go from there....

Also the 4 pronged tool can be rented from places like autozone...

 

[shortbed]

bearings were in finger tight, or loose

Thanks for the suggestions. I've had this problem for a long time. For the first four or five years I would get a year or two out of the tires, but it was always the front passenger. I think I've replaced everything but the king pin. I've put in rear springs, new shocks, replaced both the front spring seats and all the axle bushings and tie rods. I aligned the tires myself by clamping a straight 'one by' to both tires and measuring the distance between them front and back and got it very close, but you know with it only doing one tire I figure it's bearings or kingpin.

Okay now I've pulled everything out of the hub and rotor. But the bearing cups seem seated to me. I'm thinking I'm going to leave them in. Thing is this: the bearings look good as new. Only thing is the retaining nuts (they're called something else I think, but I'm bushed . . . they were both so loose I wouldn't have needed the 4 prong tool to get them out. They were both basically loose. Could this have been the whole problem?

You can tell me if its not. I'm an old timer. I'm prepared to work on this thing for another two days and have it shake just as bad when I take it out.

 

[thatsrealnice]

Yes, that could definitely be the problem. I'd tighten them to the recommendations, and then take it for a test drive. Sounds like it's the problem to me though.

 

[fatherdoug]

Also check to make sure that the lock ring(washer in between the two lock nuts) is inserted in the hub slot, and that the little protrusion on the ring is inserted into one of the holes of the lock nut. This will prevent the locknut from loosening.