CV joint, wheel bearings or what?

[spideyz]

So the 87 brat is making some front end noise. Clicking and/or bumpity noise. My first thought is that the CVs are going. With more driving I realized the noise only happens above 30mph and not when doing slow cornering. Only when there are curves in the road etc. So is this the wheel bearings? How can I confirm this? Are wheel bearings a DIY job or do you need a press. Thanks. Keith

[roxtar]

i think that the haynes says you need a press for the bearings. i had a bad bearing in my loyale and it sounded more like a rumble than clicks... i'd lean towards the cv.

[spideyz]

Any other CV joint problem I've had on any other car in the past always showed symptoms first around tight corners going fairly slow. Anyone know how to check the bearings without taking the front end apart?

 

Keith

[dragonwingsubaru]

if its a click click its most like the cv's but if its more of a clunking sounk it might be like mine was and just need the bearings repacked or replaced. mine was doing the clunk sound on a turn under force ie hitting the gas or decelerating it. greased the hell outta the bearings and mine has been driving great since.

 

sorry but to really check that you are gonna have to pop out the lower balljoint from the spindle and remove the axle from it to really check the bearings. if you have the extra money right now i would say to go ahead and replace the bearings yourself, there are a couple threads here that go into detail about how to do it yourself. but if your tight on money like i was you can just try re-greasing them

[Ross]

If the bearings are bad enough to make a clicking sound, you will be able to feel excessive play in the wheel with it jacked up.

 

You dont need a pres to do the bearings, just a hammer and a peice of 2x4 will do fine as long as you are careful.

[jeffroid]

Like everyone is saying, if it's a clicking or a clunking sound, it could be the CV's. My experience has been that wheel bearings make more of a scraping sound. The way I could tell mine were going out is to coast down a relatively long section of downhill street if you can find it. If you barely turn the steering wheel from side to side, you can hear the sound of the scraping change as the loading on the bearings changes. Whereas when my CV's were going out it got loudest when the wheel was cranked under power.

 

There was much discussion very recently, like a couple of weeks ago, in regards to whether you needed a press or not to replace the bearings. You can definitely do it without a press. If doing so reduces the life if the bearings or not is subject for argument.

[BlueSoob]

Like everyone is saying, if it's a clicking or a clunking sound, it could be the CV's. My experience has been that wheel bearings make more of a scraping sound. The way I could tell mine were going out is to coast down a relatively long section of downhill street if you can find it. If you barely turn the steering wheel from side to side, you can hear the sound of the scraping change as the loading on the bearings changes. Whereas when my CV's were going out it got loudest when the wheel was cranked under power.

 

There was much discussion very recently, like a couple of weeks ago, in regards to whether you needed a press or not to replace the bearings. You can definitely do it without a press. If doing so reduces the life if the bearings or not is subject for argument.

 

Yep.. I just got the bearings done in my 87 Brat. It was making a scraping/ swishing sound. It didn't matter which way i turned. It was pretty consistant. Mine even pulled a little to one side. BUT here's the good news. I was able to ask around and found some 60$ (for the pair) wheel bearings. A nice local tire shop took it and in about 2 hours had it done for 100$.

Hey! Not having to fight with a hammer and a 2x4 is worth 100$ to me!

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Keith. If the problem has just started, then chances are its your CV joints. Bearings tend to show signs of failure before making clunking or clacking sounds. If you start to feel vibration at higher speeds, then i would call napa for a reman

 

While your Doing the CV, might as well do the bearings

 

-Brian

[SubaruRichie]

You should check out the ball joints too. They wear out and start making a little clunking noise themselves. The 89 wagon I got from you has shot ball joints and you can hear and feel them slopping around. I would have started checking something else. I just happened to notice their condition when I had the car up on jack stands. I had the same problem on my 88 XT. Had to replace both of them. With the car up on stands try to pull out on the wheel from the bottom of the tire. If the ball joint is bad you will feel the excessive play in the ball joint. The wheel will feel like it is almost flopping around in your hand. Fairly easy to replace too. Good luck Keith.

[Phizinza]

I had to do one of my rear bearings in my brat. It was making a wearing noise in a circular way :-\ don't ask me what I mean... I pulled it out and re-greased it. It still made the noise after that so I bought a new one, pretty cheap $38AUD, and poped it in. I had to use a press for that. I tried the hammer, but it was on there way to hard. And the press makes it so easy. I just used the local mech shops press. They charged $10AUD. And w'llar, it works like new. Of cause if its the front, it will take a bit longer to do. I thought I had a front bearing on the way out, but turned out to be a skweeekie odometer. :-\

I also had CV truble after fixing the boots, I put the CV back together wrong. It cracked the race casing and it sounded like CLONK CLONK when turning, and TICK TICK TICK TICK all the way home. But I just went to u-pull it and got a new race casing for $10! better then spending $160 on a hole new CV.

Anyway. Good luck with it.