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MG MGB Technical - wheel bearing questions

My 1977 MGB vibrates like crazy from 55-65mph and I have narrowed the problemm down to the front wheel bearings. My question, What do I need to have on had to do the job of fixing the wheel bearings, i.e. repacking, replacing, etc? I have never done this type of job before (done a lot others with this car in past year but not this) so any input wil help.
Things like what tools will I need, what type of grease is used, how do I pack the bearings, type of bearings needed, etc. The Haynes is not too inform- ative on this subject.
I did find some info on the archives about this job but not everything I would like to know.
Thanks,
Joe
joe fabian

Do you have wire wheels ?
.

Joe,
My MGB also has a vibration at that speed and I believe it to be wheel balance. How did you pin it down to wheel bearings?
Chuck

Joe, MG World (U.K.) recently ran a photo illustrated, step-by-step article on front wheel bearing replacement - April/May '02 issue. Their example car was a MGB with Rostyle wheels. Wire wheels are a bit trickier; I had mine done at a shop.

Cheers, Greg
Greg Peek

Joe. Are the bearings noisy? How did you determine the wheel bearings are the problem? The
reason I ask is that bad wheel bearings are usually very noisy. Even loose bearings should
not cause lots of front end vibration. My experience is it's usually the wheels or tires.

To service your wheel bearings the way MG suggests, go to Paul Hunt's site, under Hammer and
Spanners click on hubs and folow his instructions.
http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/wn_techlinksframe.htm

Clifton
Clifton Gordon

It's more than likely to be a wheel or tire problem rather than a bearing.
The usual vibration at 55-65 is normally tire in balance. Bearings are straight forward to replace just follow the directions in haynes. May need some different size shims between the spacer to get the end float right.

Andy
Andy Preston

Thanks for the info. I had noise on the left front and vibration and while it was in the shop for an alignment I had them check the left side bearing and they were bad. After replacement the car had no more noise in the front left and vibration was less than before but still there. I did have the wheels balanced a month ago when I had new tires installed.
It does sound like I have some noise coming from the right front but its hard to say for sure. Plus I figure if the left side was bad, the right side might be bad as well.
Joe
Joe

In what way weas the left side bad? What vibration - At the steering wheel? In the body? I had a set of tyres that caused wheel wobble for their whole life despite repeated rebalancing. Unless the bearings are so bad that the wheel wobbles a couple of inches, or are very noisy and/or rough if you lift that corner and spin the wheel, I can't imagine them causing vibration.

But if you do repack/replace the bearings you might like to have a look at http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk and click on 'Spanners' and 'Hubs'.
Paul Hunt

Since you've apparantly already replaced the left bearings, check to see if the right hub is hotter than the left. I didn't experience vibration but mine were noisy and the hubs got extremely hot. I was able to rule out hanging brake pads, sticky pistons, corroded brake line (inside corrosion), etc.

Excluding the brake problems above, then the hot hubs should help confirm the noise is likely from your bearings.

Regardless, conventional wisdom (everyone I've talked to) says that bearings should be replaced two wheels at a time.

Hope this helps, Greg
Greg Peek

Paul,
The left side was occassionally rubbing so when I jacked the car up and took off the tire I turned the hub and it would go about 2 revolutions then stick on brake pad then stay there for some more rev. before free again for a few more rotations, etc plus when driving I could hear the rubbing against brake pad but not alway, about 90% of the time)that and the fact the vibration was not constant, i.e. not happening all the time (drive to work barely vibrate, drive home and be like a bronco) made me think of the bearings.
Greg, I'll check the hottness of the right wheel today and I agree, I prefer to do things in pairs, changing both wheels at same time.
Thanks a lot.
Joe
Joe

I have a bit more info on this. Yesterday on my way home from work the teperature was in the hundreds and the car vibrated like crazy from 55-65 MPH but this morning on my way to work, the temperatures were in the low 60's, there was no (at least very little) vibration at all at any speed.
Any ideas on why it was so "violent" when temp hot and almost non-existent when cooler?
Joe
Joe

Tire pressure changing with the heat?
(Grasping, here!)
Ken Lessig

You still don't say whether the vibration is felt at the steering wheel or in the structure of the car.

I don't see how a hub can turn for more than one revolution then suddenly stick on a brake pad - unless the bearings are so bad that there is masses of play in them.
Paul Hunt

Joe,

Are these wire wheels? A wheel with loose spokes (or worn splines, loose centerlock, etc) might do this. It's difficult to explain the (apparent) temperature sensitivity though.
Have you tried swapping the wheels around the car to eliminate a bad wheel/tire as the cause?
Kevin Kelleher

This thread was discussed between 12/08/2002 and 15/08/2002

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