Hi

My KA had the front O/S hub bearing replaced at 57,500 miles because the bearing was whining and felt rough when free wheeled on the jack.

Now at 63,000 miles I'm getting a knocking sound coming from the front of the car at low speed ( less than 10 mph ). The knocking sound is increases with vehicle speed and at first I thought it might be a bad spot on the brake disc.

After some investigation the discs look OK. The front O/S wheel has play in it top to bottom. This play is reduced but not eliminated when the brake pedal is pressed.

The Haynes manual suggests a problem with the hub bearing.

Anyone got any experience with recurrent hub bearing probs on a KA?

Why would the same bearing fail after only 5,500 miles?

Any ideas anyone?

Or is there some adjustment in the front bearing? Does something need tightening up?

Thanks in advance.

dvd

Is the bottom ball joint ok?

If it is indeed the bearing, I would question the quality of the parts and the experience of who fitted it as that is too soon to be replacing.

It could be poor quality parts or that the hub nut hasn't been torqued to the specified amount - any number of reasons really.

Hi Stef

Yes bottom ball joint looks and feels OK. The hub nut (or should I say hub nuts) took quite some force to slacken off so I don't think loose hub nut is the problem.

I couldn't split the bottom ball joint because I don't have a ball joint splitter, I will have to buy one today.

The bearing was replaced by one of those back street garage type places, its a place I've used for years for various vehicle repairs and I've never had a problem with them. However, I noticed there wasn't a split pin in the castle nut holding the track rod end ball joint so I'm not too impressed about that.

My money is on one of three things, a worn bearing, worn housing or worn bearing journal.

I will find out today when I get the whole thing to bits.

BTW, the hub nut was a strange type I've never seen before, its not one single nut but several very thin nuts (just a couple of threads wide) sandwiched together in a sort of metal clip type thing. There isn't a slot in the hub shaft for staking the nut in place. I can't see how it works?

The Haynes manual (4786 KA 2003 to 2008) refers to a single hub nut with staking to secure it so its a type of nut not covered by the book. The car is a 2007 Studio.

Anyway, I'll crack on with it today and let you know what I find out.

Thanks

dvd

That will be one of the laminated nuts, they can usually be reused a couple of times too - quite common on fords.

Hope you find the culprit

Hi Stef

Yes, found out bout the nut when I went to Ford dealer to get new parts. I made the mistake of undoing the clip and separating the nuts and mixing them all up so had to buy a new one.

Anyway, as for the original fault, turns out the bearing jounal was worn. Looking at it I think the jounal and shoulder were damaged when the original bearing race was removed, looks like someone has taken a hammer and chisel to it as well as a welding flame.

The hub is wrecked. So it's a new hub and hub nut. Surprisingly the bearing looks and feels OK.

I'm not impressed with the garage that did the original repair, wont be going there again. Guess I will have to go back to doing my own maintenance again.

I had hopped my days of wriggling round under cars were over but you know how it goes, if you want somethin doin right you have to do it yourself?

Thanks

dvd