Alright. I have searched and searched and found one guy that had the same problem, but no one offered an explanation for it, so here goes... At 90k, along with the timing belt, etc, I replaced all of the wheel bearings. The rear ones were making some noise and, sure enough, were not good. The front ones weren't exhibiting any obvious signs, but I decided to do it as a preventative (I put new rotors on, too, since it would have to be done soon anyway). After getting the hubs and bearings pressed out and having new ones put in I put the control arm/front knuckle back on and drove around for a while and heard an awful grinding when I hit the brakes. The whole hub assembly had worked its way loose and had enough play that when I was hitting the brakes it was rubbing against the caliper bracket assembly. It put a nice gouge in my new rotor on one side. I thought "Either the bearing wasn't good right out of the box or the guy who pressed them in screwed it up" (he looked like he struggled with the press). I get a new bearing and had it pressed in. Same thing happened. When I took off the wheel, the whole hub had ~1/8 inch of play in it. Both sides! I take the knuckle off again, take it to a machine shop where the guy used to work as a honda mechanic. He trys pressing the bearings back in a little and, sure enough, the wiggle is gone. He asks if I torqued the axle nut down enough because everything should be bound together by that and shouldn't be able to back out. Of course, I had torqued it to 134lb/ft just like it says in the manual. I drive for a bit and this happens again. WTF?!? What could cause a bearing to work itself out or the hub? Do I just need a new hub? Those things are damn expensive. any insight on this would be very, very much appreciated. I'm sick of messing with this same problem so next time I fix it, I want it to be the last time. HELP, H-T people!

 

Is this snap ring in place (#32)?

 

Yup... Snap ring is visible from the hub once the rotor is off. What is the purpose of that snap ring exactly? It seems to me that the bearing couldn't come out the front of the hub anyway. My bearings are backing out the opposite way, towards the back. OR rather, the hub is working its way towards the outside, off the bearing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vaskater &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yup... Snap ring is visible from the hub once the rotor is off. </TD></TR></TABLE>

uhh... the snap ring should NOT be visible once the rotor is off. it should be recessed inside the knuckle. youd have to press the hub out in order to see the snap ring. it keeps the bearing from moving outward. which sounds like is exactly whats happening to you.

 

1-The bearing is pressed into the outside of the steering knuckle.
2-The snap ring holds the bearing inside the knuckle.
3-The hub is pressed into the bearing from the outside.
4-The axle is inserted into the knuckle & bearing from the inside.
5-The hub nut is torqued down holding everything tight to the bearing
6-The hub nut is staked down to prevent it from backing off

It sounds like your problem is either 2, 5 or 6.

If it's 2, then your bearing could pull free from the knuckle causing the play. This would mean that only your outer CV joints & brake calipers are holding your wheel on. Are you positive those snap rings are in place?

If it's 5, then you are probably reaching your torque spec before the axle shaft is pulled through the hub completely (totally possible w/ a tight axle). This could allow the hub to pull away from the bearing as the axle makes it's way further into the hub. Does the axle slide all the way into the hub easily?

If it's 6, Then you would experience similar symtoms as #5, until the nut came off all the way. At that point, a loose hub would cause your wheel to fall off.