Been hearing that familiar "clunk" sound when turning slowly into a parking spot. Jacked it up today and there is about 1/4 to 1/2" of play in the driver's side front wheel when pulling hard on the wheel from side to side.

Luckily no vibration at speed....yet. I drive at least 100 miles every day on the highway. Gotta change this now.

I assume that the needle bearing maintenance guide on guzzler's site will not remedy this kind of play, correct?

Gotta just replace the whole assembly, right?

Other than sockets, and air hammer, some PB blaster, snap ring pliers, and a jack/lift, and a new hub, is there anything else I should make sure I have before I rip into this job tomorrow after work?

Any simple mistakes to try and avoid?

Thanks

 

A foot pound torque wrench to torque the unit bearing,caliper and tire back on and brake kleen to clean the rotor surface.

 

So now I don't think its the bearing after all. Before I bought the hub I wanted to double check. Just jacked it up again and the play was gone from top to bottom. Drove it around the lot a few times making some slow sharp turns until I heard a single "clunk" sound. I then jacked it up again.

Picture the wheel as a clock face when looking at it from the side facing the lugs. Top is 12 oclock, etc.

When I pull/push on the wheel at 12 oclock or 6 oclock there is no play, but when I pull/push at 3 oclock or 9 oclock there is side to side play. So tie rods or something?

 

not really

the lack of play at 12 and 6 vs the play at 3 and 9 could be due to the weight of the wheel. to get a better sense of the play at 12 and 6, place two boards under wheel and slightly jack the tire so as to take some of the weight of and the play at 12 and 6 will be more pronounced. the two boards are needed to reduce the friction of the rubber tire on the first board. boards should be abot 6 wide and 6 long, thinner the better, 1/4 ply works well.