By Jon H on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 09:05 pm: Edit

I have a 97 Disco and today it started making a load knocking sound from the front left wheel, which can also be felt through the footwell. When the underneath of the was checked I found that the front left wheel can be rocked moving the brake rotor, etc. all nuts are torqued to spec.

I am of the assumption that this is a problem with the bearing being shot.

Is it safe to drive the truck in this condition? How big of a job is it to replace the bearing? And, is there anything unexpected i should look for?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jon

By Erik Snarr (Eriks) on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 10:17 pm: Edit

If it is the wheel bearing you run the risk of it seizing up. That happened to me but not in a disco. I was going maybe 30 mph and the wheel just locked solid and I skid for about 30 feet. I was told that didn't happen very often but it sure scared me into following the mfg's wheel bearing repack schedules to the letter.

By Brian Jackson (Nerover) on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 10:30 pm: Edit

Could just be the preload nut backed off to nothing and hubnut lossened, so the bearings may or may not be toasted, but the rotor is floating around on the spindle (stub axle). That would make your caliper hold the rotor in position more or less and should be taken care of. The earlier, the better, but I wouldn't worry about a horredous accident. It's possible it could lock up and it's possible it could fall right off, but HIGHLY unlikely. It's not a hard job, you'll need RTV, 17mm and 13mm sockets and a screwdriver for the tab washers and a 2-1/16" socket for the hubnuts. It's messy but not hard.
If you want to do the seals too, you need a seal puller. Go to Autozone and they'll lend you one and get you bearings for $13/wheel. They are Timken SET37.

Brian

By joshua on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 11:19 pm: Edit

seal puller, shmear puller...

Brian, your big ass scrwdriver idea worked for me....

lol

bearings went in now prob...dont bother with a seal puller, just replace everything... use a set of vice-grips as yoru puller...

they are all under 10 bucks as I recall.
bri, how was your run this weekend...

give a shout-jman

By Brian Jackson (Nerover) on Tuesday, November 13, 2001 - 12:47 am: Edit

Hey Josh!

Some folks like to do it the right way...hehe

Screwdriver and other handy tools work fine as well. Trip was good, lots of good folks...the pics are under the Sullivan County Pics thread over under Trail Information.

Brian

By Jon H on Tuesday, November 13, 2001 - 08:54 pm: Edit

Thanks to everyone of you for your helpful advice.

I replaced all the bearings, seal, etc. packed with plenty of grease. Same problem.

Maybe I damaged something off-roading at sometime without realizing and now it has surfaced.

I don't know what else to look for so tommorrow I call the dealer and have them look at it.

Thanks again everyone.