Front wheel play/light clunking noise

[egertk]

I have searched through forums here attempting to find other stuff to check.... thus far have not been able to figure anything out. My car is a 77 911S, I just had the front wheel bearings replaced in January by Aker's Porsche here in Seattle. They have less than 1000 miles on them since then.
I went out to a PCA Driver Skills day a few weekends ago as a volunteer and at the end of the day wanted to run my car around a few times, but it didn't pass tech because both of the front wheel bearings had too much play. So I drove the car home, put it up in the air, took apart the left wheel bearing... couldn't find anything wrong. It was tightened up so that the washer just barely deflected, so it wasn't loose as some had suggested. The bearing and race looked like they were in good shape, so I checked the balljoint, that looked good. I tried doing a side to side shake of the wheel to see if it was something with the steering. Again, no dice, side to side is fine. Only when you grab the top of the wheel do you really get it, when you push-pull the wheel moves a bit and there is a light clunking noise. I took my best look at the strut insert and the strut bearing up top, everything seemed fine. This is happening on both sides although appears worse on the left. Perhaps I'm not looking at the right stuff or am just not clear as to what to look for when I'm doing these tests? I've got an autocross coming up next weekend and would like to be able to drive my car! Could anybody offer me some advice? Thanks!

[Mitch Leland]

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/search.php?searchid=2154080

Try this link... It sounds to me that you have not set the bearings, then backed off the proper amount for proper tension.

You might try and tighten the bearings so tight the wheel hardly moves, then grab the wheel to see if you still get the same "clunking" sound. If you do then you know it's not your bearing set up.

[egertk]

Nope tried that as well. I'm also pretty certain Aker's set them in there correctly in the first place. My guess at this point is that it's not the bearing, so I'm trying to explore other options.

[Mitch Leland]

Sounds to me like you need a second person under the car while the other guy works the wheels. I wouldn't drive the car until you know what's going on...

[egertk]

I got somebody else to there to help shake/wobble stuff while I looked at everything. There is no side to side motion so I know it's not something with the steering. It's really only when you are push/pulling on the top of the wheel. The upper strut bearing looks good. I took out the outer wheel bearing, checked it out for any sort of weird wear and as expected it looks brand new. (Remember it was replaced less than 1000 miles ago) Re-tightened the thrust washer down to specs, 10 ft lbs till the wheel barely would turn while turning the wheel, then backed it off till the washer deflected under only slight pressure from a flat bladed screwdriver. I have a 2 post lift at home so I put it up on the lift then used my big floor jack to come up under the ball joint and compressed the suspension, looking for any compression in the ball joint. Didn't see any. Not really sure how else to check it on here. On VW's, which are what I'm used to working on, you take a large channel lock or something and you can just get on the top and bottom of the ball joint and if it moves when you clamp down, then that's typically a sign that it's bad. Can't really do that here due to the strut design. So looking for other ways of checking out the components.
Essentially, with the sidewall flex I get when I grab the top of the tire, I get about an inch of deflection in the tire and a light metal clunking noise when i push/pull. I've read bad things of ball joints failing and don't want to experience that. Can anybody give me further insight into whether I should be worried about the ball joint still or should I be looking elsewhere? Like the strut itself? Trying to get the car ready for an autocross this next weekend... really trying to figure this out! Thanks!

[3.2 CAB]

The vertical movement when pushed/pulled, from a 12 and 6 o'clock position sounds like it very well could be bad ball joints, or possibly tie-rod ends giving the vertical play. I would have to be able to actually see what is happening to now for sure. Just a thought. Good luck!! Tony.

[egertk]

Anybody in the Seattle/Everett area who knows this stuff willing to help me take a look? I'll trade garage time on my lift in exchange for help solving this

[Fast Corners]

Did you check the strut mounting bolts and the nut at the top to make sure they are tight? Also I would check the strut to see if it is ok as well. instead of grabbing the tire, try pushing and pulling on the strut body.

[Flieger]

Could it be a brake caliper issue? Maybe when the suspesion moves or the wheels are turned, they are contacting a dust shield or duct or something. Or a noisy pad?

Just my crazy thought...