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Hub Race Problem

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U

urchin

Jedi Trainee
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During this past winter, on a bitterly cold day, my '80 TR-7 Spider lost a wheel bearing on the drivers front side. I limped about 1/10 mile and had the car towed to a shop. The spindle was scored up a bit; you could see a lip had been built up near the entry point and there were two small grooves , about 1/4" each. A new bearing and race were installed. The car had some shimmy at 50 MPH that would go away once you passed 60 mph. Otherwise, it seemed ok.

Yesterday, I noticed the tire had been worn badly on the inner side. When I rocked the wheel, I was dismayed at the amount of wobble. So I disaasembled the wheel, removed the bearing, found nice clear grease, cleaned off the spindle, and tried to file down the scoring. The bearing, about 3 months old, was gritty so I put in another new bearing. When I went to press in a new race, I found that it would not seat firmly in the hub. In fact, the old one had probably been spinning in the hub.

A mechanic friend recommended bearing retaining glue and gave me some to use. The wheel spun smoothly on the spindle at rest. When I drove the car the shimmy was the same at teh same speed and there's still a little wobble at rest [actually it's the same on the right and left front spindle].

Questions: Has anyone used the bearing glue? Should there be a small amount of movement at the wheel, or none? Do I need to find a replacement hub and spindle?


Thanks in advance!

Jeff
 
I can't speak specifically of TR7's, but with most cars that I know of you shouldn't have any play in the hub to bearing race or your bearing to spindle. I think it would be cheap insurance to just replace the spindle, hub, and bearing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
And, those "Bandaid" fixes have a habit of coming back to bite you big time. Don't risk the quick and dirty fix, especially on something as critical as this.
Jeff
 
[ QUOTE ]
I can't speak specifically of TR7's, but with most cars that I know of you shouldn't have any play in the hub to bearing race or your bearing to spindle. I think it would be cheap insurance to just replace the spindle, hub, and bearing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed......since they were damaged these are the cause of the problem, and I think that they should be replaced.
 
Thanks, everyone. Without taking the wheel apart again, I don't know if the "glue" held. I know it's only a temporary fix, but it did let me get back on the road.

Thanks to Wedgeparts (TN) and The Wedge Shop (MA), I found the parts that I needed in terms of the hub and spindle. Looks like Wednesday's the day to tackle the jobs.

Wish me luck,

Jeff
 
Hi Everyone,

Today I installed a used hub and spindle/strut tower on my '80 TR-7 Spider. Of course, I used new bearings and races. The two biggest problems came in removing the collar of the strut tower and separating the steering arm from the ball joint. We were really reluctant to use heat on the shock because of the potential to damage the shock. Instead, a mechanic friend used a pipe vise and penetrating oil. My guess is that the tower had not been opened since manufacture in 1980! A careful use of a pry bar and spanner protected the ball joint.

Everything felt wonderful going back together and the car drives very nicely.

Thanks again for your help.

Jeff
 
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