Front Wheel bearings: clicking sound, how long before catastrophe?

[subwayrat356]

My 77s has a clicking sound from the right front wheel. No sound when it is up on jackstands, spins smoothly. It rocks slightly when I pull at 12 and 6, nothing at 9 and 3. The sound is faint going straight at slower speeds, then is quite audible during turns (weaving across the road) turning both ways. This is a clicking sound, not the roar or grinding others have mentioned. Sounds like a stick caught in bike spokes. At higher speeds, it is gone, though engine noise and wind noise would make it difficult to hear. I also have not swerved across the road at higher speeds for obvious reasons.

I am assuming this is wheel bearings. After reading the threads, would this be something that could be fixed by removing the dust cap and loosening the allen lock bolt and tightening the nut a little bit? I have not done any hub/wheel work before and the car is a few hours away, so I can't explain more than what I have read on all the wheel bearing threads.

Again, assuming everyone here agrees that this is a bearing issue, I am planning on changing them all up front, however I have a trip planned this weekend. A 5 hour drive each way. Does this sound like something that could leave me stranded, or is it something that may get worse on the trip, but will do no other damage other than to the bearings that are about to get replaced?

Any help here would be most appreciated!
tom

[berettafan]

Not certain that's bearings but the play at 12/6 is certainly an indicator. Bearing adjustment (which you mention) is not hard and you can certainly give it a shot BUT if bearings are damaged already that's not going to fix it long term. I would certainly check the adjustment (should be done periodically anyways).

Possible damage could include:
-destroying spindle (VERY easy to do...new strut=$$)
-seizing wheel and flying off road out of control to a fiery death after first taking out a van full of nuns.

You could try having Pelican or some other source overnighting the bearings/seals and taking hubs to a nearby shop. NOT a guarantee fix if you've already damaged spindle.

[James Brown]

I would look at the ball joints. The 12-6 check looks like play in the ball joint but there should also be play in the 3-6 plane (if the brake callaper is not on). Have someone check the ball joint play when you rock it up and down. Were only talken a few .0000 of a inch to make a clicking sound. Might even be a loose nut on the ball joint but that's rare.

[john walker's workshop]

warped rotor flicking the pad every turn?

[subwayrat356]

I can hear the rotor when it is spinning up on jacks...but ithe sound is dependent on turning. Could this still affect then rotor? Is there anything that depends on the suspension being loaded before it would make the noise?

[gtc]

Do you have Boge struts? I'm wondering if the nut that holds in the strut insert could be loose. That is generally much more of a 'clunk' sound, though.

[jason2guy]

careful w/those front bearings. that being said, ive never heard em click. what i have heard is a squeaky odd kind of sound from the grease seal when things get dry and crusty. its not hard to pull it all apart and check it out. get some grease and a couple of new wheel seals, brk fluid. thats what i would try first. as far as bleeding the brakes when its all put back together ive had great luck w/the gravity method. dont start pumping that old MC cause ull blow it up. good luck

[DYB]

I had a clicking sound once. Frequency was dependant on speed and I could not hear it once road noise and wind kicked in. Drove me nuts trying to figure out what it was as I tell if it was back or front.

Well nuts were what it was. After a set of new tires the tire shop had not done up the wheel nuts firmly.

[47silver]

last inspection i was told that the wheel bearings needed repacked or replaced. 2 weeks ago i felt a wobble in the drivers side wheel.
I put it on the midrise and pulled the wheel and bearing cover.
the bearing cage was smashed flat on two of the bearings. I dont know how this happened, a pot hole?
I replaced all of the bearings and races.
Heat hub to 250 and pound the races out with a drift pin. Very Easy.
freeze bearing race the day before.
Reheat the hub to 250, i used a bearing tool that i used on the rear wheels to pull the race into the hub. i did not feel comfy pounding it in with a bearing race driver, but it can be done.
you have to remove the calipers and rebleed the brakes..
not too hard and the bearings from pelican are inexpensive.

[Trackrash]

Well nuts were what it was.

It doesn't sound like a wheel bearing to me. To be sure I would take out the bearings, clean them up, and inspect them closely. Those need to be repacked every once in a while anyway and it's not a hard job. Probably should check all the suspension and brake stuff while the wheel is off. Worst case you will have to change the bearings. It's not a hard or expensive job and worth the peace of mind.

[Evans, Marv]

I don't mean to scare you, and what I'm going to say probably isn't it. However it could be a possibility, especially since the "clicking" is at 12 & 6.
Many years ago, I had an Austin Healey that had sort of the same symptom. I couldn't figure out what it was. I should have gotten really suspicious when it would make a slight scraping sound when I turned left. Of course the car had drum brakes and wire wheels. I worked a graveyard shift at a steel company and drove through a neighborhood part of the way to work. One night the scraping got all of a sudden much louder, then there was a loud sort of a bang sound and the right front of the car dropped down. It was then I could see the right front wheel going on, bouncing over a curb and going up a tree before it dropped to the ground. My spindle had broken, and the scraping sound I had been hearing was it bending more as time went on and scraping against the brake drum. However at that time, a new spindle only cost $40 and the labor to replace it was $40, although $80 was more then than now.