If not wheel bearings...?

[eec564]

So I was driving my 88 5spd N/A 300ZX when it started making the horrid wheel bearing dying noise in the driver's side front. After I got home I pulled the hub off and found nice clean bearings. Whoever worked on the car before I got it had very sparingly filled the hub recess with grease, leaving the bearings completely dry! After inspecting the bearings for any rough spots or discoloration, I cleaned and properly (liberally) greased the bearings and re-assembled. Just for good measure, I regressed the passenger side as well, finding it in the same condition.

 

After assembly, the noise stopped for a few days, but returned intermittently. I re-torqued the spindle nut and could not find detect any play in the hub, but the noise didn't go away. Now instead of a squeal at high speed and nothing at low speeds, it became a grinding noise at low speed.

 

I decided to replace the wheel bearings with new SKF units, but there was absolutely no change in the horrid noise. Now I'm starting to think my spindle is bad, worn down enough to continue to cause problems. However, I'm not certain what the diameter of the spindle is supposed to be. I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll go ahead and take apart both sides (ug, so messy) and measure the spindles. I'm just not certain that the passanger side would still be in factory specs (despite not making noise), and I haven't managed to find the original specs in either the FSM of fiche. I'm also worried about how much wear a junk yard spindle would have on it.

 

So, with that amazingly long (and hopefully detailed enough) post, does anyone have any ideas on what to do? I just hate throwing parts at something.

 

Edit: Thanks Larry

[COZY Z COLE]

 

Edit: Thread title should have been "If not wheel bearings...?" Anyone want to change it?

 

Done...

 

LARRY

[sweetleaf]

Did you change the races, when you put new bearings in?

[eec564]

Yes, I changed the races. Not hard to do on the 300, there are notches in the hub that helps get them out, and driving them back in is way easier than on my 280ZX. I've also carefully checked the brakes, the pads are wearing evenly, and I just don't think that's the problem since nothing changes whether I'm on them or off them.

 

I think I'm going to pull both sides now (again, ug, messy) and measure stuff.

[naviathan]

Are you actually having to press the races back in? I had a worn hub on my ZX that caused similar problems. I pulled it to replace the bearings and races and the races just fell out. Even the new ones dropped in with no force.

[eec564]

Yes, I had to drive the races out and back in. The races were an interference fit.

 

But as it turns out, the spindle is (long string of words I'm sure my neighbors loved hearing). After taking back apart the driver's side and cleaning the spindle and bearings, I slipped them back on without the hub. The outer bearing's inner race is a very tight fit. The inner bearing's inner race rotates on the spindle when I push upwards on the bearing and spin it. The entire spindle/strut tube/etc is (string of words that HybridZ's filter would catch).

 

At this point I'm going to most likely also have to replace the shocks, as putting the old worn one into a new tube might not work so well, and then having new front shocks would most likely put emphasis on the rear ones...

 

Anyone in the Bay Area want to sell me a good Z31 driver's side spindle? Or better yet, just buy the whole car. It has a new clutch, fuel pump, alternator, rear tires (5k miles, at the most), and an engine that passed smog like a new car.