wheel bearing worn or ??

[Steelrat]

Last time out in Nova I heard a grinding sound coming from drivers front wheel when I pulled into the driveway, so I pulled wheel thinking maybe the brakes and found black stuff sprayed inside of wheel on lug nuts, and the bolt holes worn as if wheel was loose. I know the wheel was on dead tight prior so not an issue of a loose wheel.
Bearings??Anything else I should do to assess source?

see pics
thank you

[Steelrat]

hope this is coryect process, hands are dirty and am needing to get car on road asap.

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=56275

[6'9"Witha69]

If those nuts are too long to seat the rim before hitting the drum then that could explain a loose wheel even though the lugs were torqued. I've seen it before.

[Mkelcy]

I agree with Nick - I'd look at the wheel lugs. Worn wheel bearings wouldn't result in worn mounting holes in the wheels. How thick are the flanges of the wheels where they mount to the hub and how long are your lug nuts?

[MonzaRacer]

couldnt hurt to repack the bearings and inspect the bearings and replace seals.clean the bearings good then dry then, clean all the old grease out of the hub and pack new grease inside it, use a putty knife, but leave a hole in the middle, use a grease packer to pack grease into the bearings too, then place new seal in back, replace the seal and carefully tap it into place.
If bearings are ok. now the right way to tighten the bearings is keep tightening till rotor is hard to turn but not locking up. use a wrench or socket wrench , loosen nut up 1/2 turn, give nut a snug Like finger tight, till you take up the slack from lossening, reinstall cotter pin, best if you use a new one.
Tada repacked bearings.
Now if bearings are rough, have wierd colors, or different look on surface like shine or marks replace bearings and races.
good luck
Lee

[Steelrat]

that was it. I usually have double washers on the lugs between nut and wheel as they are long ones. Doh i looked and not on that wheel. what the??, then I find them on a shelf in garage with some marbles, a ball and 2 screwdrivers. My little boy the collector was with me when I put wheels back on. Did not even notice them gone.

thanks so much to all

[Steelrat]

thaks Lee will give the bearings a re and re. I usually have double washers on the lugs between nut and wheel as they are long ones. Doh i looked and not on that wheel. what the??, then I find them on a shelf in garage with some marbles, a ball and 2 screwdrivers. My little boy the collector was with me when I put wheels back on. Did not even notice them gone.

thanks so much

[JEFFTATE]

Most GM repair manuals read as follows:

Tighten the hub nut to 16 N·m (12 lb ft), while turning the wheel forward by hand. This will seat the bearings.

Then loosen the hub nut.
Important: Do not back the nut off more than ½ flat.

Adjust the nut to a finger tight position by hand. Then, back the nut off until the hole in the spindle aligns with a slot in the nut.
Install a new cotter pin.
Make sure the cotter pin ends do not interfere with the cap. Bend the ends of the cotter pin against the nut. Cut off any extra pin length.

Measure the endplay. Proper endplay is 0.03-0.13 mm (0.001-0.005 in).

Install the dust cap to the wheel hub.

[JEFFTATE]

Glad you got it fixxed.