Post by ticktockDon't quite understand why you would only change the bearing on the one
side? I always change pairs of bearings and bushes as a matter of
course.
But... if you are turning left then the unsprung mass of the nearside
wheel will effectively reduce more than the effective increase on the
offside (because the outside bearings will already be 'loaded-up' even
at rest. Load is slightly exponential rather than purely linear in
cornering).
The noise (if it is the bearings) would then tend to change 'more' on
turning left because that side would experience the greater apparent
change in Mass-loading (the centre of gravity moves to the outside of
the circle and the loading on the inside of the corner goes through the
greater amount of 'change').
I would start with replacing the other wheel-bearing also.
Next ... check the exhaust baffle at the bottom of the bulkhead (I
think they all had this)... my daughters' car which she had before
emigrating (Escort Diesel) had a small blow in the exhaust just at the
baffle plate... the exhaust gases were 'hitting the baffle and acting
like a little drum. Inside the car it sounded awful, outside you
couldn't hear the damned thing above the noise of the engine. It got
louder/faster with engine speed. (Not just road speed) . Which is yours
.. engine speed or road speed dependant?
If it is engine speed related .. then obviously it is highly unlikley
to be anything to do with suspension/steering. Road speed dependant ..
it is likely suspension/steering.
As for radial tyre sudewall delamination as a suggested cause ....
highly unlikely/improbable. Such, if it were to occur, is unlikely to
give the symptons you describe. I haven't heard of delamination of car
tyres being a problem for c.30 years .. you would see the effects of
sidewall degradation (cracking and splitting first ... so this should
be a really simple visual check).
Can't quite follow the logic of a noise being a 'balance problem' ...
if it was a wheel balance problem you would not just hear it but also
expect to feel it at it's resonant speed. Do you?
As this is OT for this group... you can drop me a offline email if you
want to discuss.
ieb-aht-klokwurx-dot-koe-ukay
BTW .. my background includes (amongst others) automotive engineering
so I do have some knowledge in this area.
I'd definately start with that 'other' wheel-bearing (especially if it
is a humming sound rather than a graunching or rattling).
Regards
Ian
No, no no, they're all wrong.
It's a little accepted fact that its not technology that makes cars
work, its actually Gnomes. Inside the structure of the car are
thousands of tiny little gnomes, and what you're hearing is the muted
whistling of the gnomes as they work. Now normally these are to be
found in the carburettor where their whistling is often mistaken for
induction noise, but in winter they migrate south and join the dwarf
working parties in the driveshaft and bearing levels.
These consist of the axe levels (often referred to incorrectly as
axles), the common property mine access shaft (run by the dwarves)
often shortened to prop shaft, and the main circular mining pits, the
motherlode (wheel) bearing face.
Occasionally access to one of these areas is blocked when the
underground joists (UJ's) in the tunnel fail. You can always tell
when this has happened because you can hear the dwarf miners
tap-tap-tapping away with pickaxes to clear the blockage.
Working in these levels is arduous, so the gnomes and dwarves like to
play hard after they have worked hard, and at the end of the shift they
want to have a beer or two, relax and let their hair down in one of the
many gin joints to be found in these levels. However, being as small as
they are they cannot hold their drink very well and often become a bit
too boisterous and uncouth. In an attempt to restore the decorum the
powers that be decided to ban workmans clothes and insist on formal
wear as an entrance policy for everyone wanting to drink and dance,so
instead of gin joints these became known as Ball Joints due to the
dress policy.
Ball joints are normally quiet, because the now well behaved gnomes and
dwarves don't like to mess up their formal wear, but riots have
occasionally broken out down there when the drink has run out. That's
why it's important to keep these ball joints 'well lubricated' if
you want to avoid excessive noise or damage to the 'joint'.
Occasionally they can of course still imbibe too much and will feel
slightly drunk the morning after when they return to their work place.
Predictably, the result of this is usually a loss of balance, and if
too many gnomes are hungover at one time, then this can be clearly felt
in the handling of the car. Sometimes they are so drunk they will
report for duty on the wrong 'side' of the car before being sent
back to the proper station. This often leads to the conclusion that the
imbalance is on the wrong side of the car to where it actually is. Of
course, when they sober up the imbalance goes away, but will return if
they turn up drunk again. This often leads people to believe that there
is an 'intermittent fault' somewhere.
Now and again of course, they just have a bad headache and can't keep
to the correct working rhythm of the rest of the group. On these
occasions you may experience a series of out-of-place tapping sounds.
In order to help these gnomes get back on the pace, all the other
gnomes and dwarves will then whistle or hum a marching tune for them to
follow and allow them to pick up the rhythm, and this is what you are
actually hearing.
Peter