Pre-war (up to 1942) 1939 LaSalle - Wheel Wobble? Replace Bearings?

[39LaSalleDriver]

I've never replaced my rear wheel bearings because, quite frankly, I've not had a reason to do so. I know some folks recommend doing it for just in case regardless, but I'd rather not replace something that has not given me a moments doubt of it's reliability. For the record, I have done a few long distance drives with it, and had no issues whatsoever with bearing performance.

However, a couple of weeks ago we went out for a drive and about two miles from the house a guy pulls up along side at an intersection and says "did you know your rear passenger wheel is wobbling?" I thanked him for the heads up and immediately headed back to the house. It has no abnormal shimmy, vibrations, or noises that I can pick up on, and I see no unusual tread wear.

Jacked the wheel up, spins fine. No noise. Grab top and bottom of tire and check for any play. I can just barely sense the tiniest bit of slop, and I more "feel" than "hear" a bit of a click. Certainly nothing measurable by any other means than feel. Is this normal or is it natural for there to be just the smallest amount of play?

I had the wife drive it while I stood by and looked for anything out of the ordinary. I did see what I think the other guy called my attention to, but it strikes me that it has more to do with imperfections of my Coker bias tire, and the fact that I know I need to have my rim straightened. I'll also admit, it's certainly noticeable if you're looking for it. Noticeable to the point I would think it would be felt and heard while driving if it were a bearing problem.

So what would some of the more knowledgeable folks recommend...not OCD worry about it, keep a close eye on it, or replace immediately? Similarly, has anyone else noticed Coker bias tires having somewhat imperfect castings and giving the illusion of wobbling? Thanks,

[Abe Lugo]

If it

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Jon,

It is nice when people tell you of something that you might not be aware of, and this fellow must have been concerned for both the safety of your car, and yourself.

The best advice is to remove the wheel and replace it with a known good one, and have the "bad" one checked out by putting it on the front, where you can easily spin it and observe with the wheel off the ground.

The only way a rear wheel could wobble is if the axle is bent, the wheel nuts are loose, or the wheel itself is bent.   Tyres that are failing, or poorly made, will show up in the aforementioned front spinning.

Another thing about our older cars, in that they might receive less use than daily drivers, is that especially with cross-ply tyres, they can get a "set" in them when parked that allows the part that is on the ground can take a while to "round out" until the tyre is warm.   But, this can usually feel like a "squirming" when rolling.   

The biggest problem is that the rear axle, unlike the front that we feel movement through the steering, tends to hide faults and imperfections.   I have seen rear wheels doing all sorts of antics, and the driver never feels a problem.

Once I was driving my car on a bad dirt road and nothing was out of the ordinary, but on reaching a sealed part, the car was all over the place.   When I stopped and got out, one of the rear tyres had completely destroyed itself, and was about to come off the rim.   BUT, on the dirt road, it felt good. 

Bruce.

[fishnjim]

Easiest thing to do is take to a tire shop and have them balance the wheels.   They'll be able to tell if they're out of round or bent or what's going on.
You(they) can check the axle run out with a dial gauge and see if it's within specs.   
If the bearings were worn bad enough to cause the tires ot wobble, you'd be hearing noises.

[39LaSalleDriver]

G'day Jon,

It is nice when people tell you of something that you might not be aware of, and this fellow must have been concerned for both the safety of your car, and yourself.

The best advice is to remove the wheel and replace it with a known good one, and have the "bad" one checked out by putting it on the front, where you can easily spin it and observe with the wheel off the ground.

The only way a rear wheel could wobble is if the axle is bent, the wheel nuts are loose, or the wheel itself is bent.   Tyres that are failing, or poorly made, will show up in the aforementioned front spinning.

Another thing about our older cars, in that they might receive less use than daily drivers, is that especially with cross-ply tyres, they can get a "set" in them when parked that allows the part that is on the ground can take a while to "round out" until the tyre is warm.   But, this can usually feel like a "squirming" when rolling.   

The biggest problem is that the rear axle, unlike the front that we feel movement through the steering, tends to hide faults and imperfections.   I have seen rear wheels doing all sorts of antics, and the driver never feels a problem.

Once I was driving my car on a bad dirt road and nothing was out of the ordinary, but on reaching a sealed part, the car was all over the place.   When I stopped and got out, one of the rear tyres had completely destroyed itself, and was about to come off the rim.   BUT, on the dirt road, it felt good. 

Bruce.

Thanks Bruce, those are some great points to ponder. I feel like an idiot now for not thinking of swapping tires out to see if there are any changes. In fact, Abe Lugo in a private message to me (he couldn't get his response to show here because of the glitch) recommended jacking the whole back end up and spinning it to make an up close and personal inspection. Today I'm going to get it up in the air and switch some tires around to see what happens.

I'm definitely happy that the guy said something to me because I was oblivious to the issue (if there is one), and as you point out, you can only see so much from the driver's seat. Your observations on flat spots from sitting is why I make a point to take it out for a spin at least every two weeks. I figure that will minimize the chances of that happening, plus keep everything lubed in the engine properly.

Easiest thing to do is take to a tire shop and have them balance the wheels.   They'll be able to tell if they're out of round or bent or what's going on.
You(they) can check the axle run out with a dial gauge and see if it's within specs.   
If the bearings were worn bad enough to cause the tires ot wobble, you'd be hearing noises.

Oh, I know for fact the tire in question is out of balance and has a bent rim. I had a buddy of mine who works at a garage mount and balance my tires for me and he informed me of those issues at the time. If nothing else, I am definitely going to have this rectified now before driving it any more. I'm with you on the noise factor. I've had a bearing go out on modern cars, and you for sure can hear and feel it if it's bad enough. I've just not experienced it before on a car this age.

I'm definitely going to be keeping an open mind to see what's going on, but I'm fairly convinced it's a tire or wheel issue rather than an axle or bearing issue. When looking at it, I'm basing it on seeing the sidewall give the appearance of moving in and out (like the shaded portion on the right side of B in my illustration), not so much the tread portion itself moving side to side (like A in my illustration).

[39LaSalleDriver]

Well, I have successfully identified the problem as being a wheel/tire issue. I raised the entire rear end which allowed my wheels to spin freely. Definitely was able to see the wheel/tire in question waivering around as it spun. Took that tire off and replaced it with my spare. Problem stopped. Therefore I could conclude that it wasn't a bearing or bent axle at fault.

So I dropped the bad wheel to a local shop to see about having it straightened. They called me back a couple of hours later and said that they couldn't do it. I never got a satisfactory answer about why (I was only able to talk to the counter guy), but the long and short of it was their machines couldn't do it and that the wheel itself was worn out and likely unfixable. So they claim. It might well be they just didn't want to fool with it.

Anyway, I took both that wheel and the spare to my buddy's garage, and am having them swap the tires and rebalance. This should solve my problem and I'll just keep the damaged wheel as my spare.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Not many places will have wheel-straightening machines these days.   We once had a very old Bodyworks that had one, and they did work for many of the local Bodyworks.   Sort of like they invested in it, and therefore nobody else needed to spend to buy one, and everyone shared.

I would hazard a guess that the first shop were not confident in their capability to repair, or had better things to do.

I have experienced where a place has the tools, but nobody now knows how to use it, so it just sits.

Bruce.

[wheikkila]

I would check with your local tire stores. They may not do it. but they may have a company that repairs the rims. I live in Austin Tx and the company I used was in Houston. They made two trips a week to Austin to pick up rims for repair.
Thanks Wayne

[39LaSalleDriver]

I would hazard a guess that the first shop were not confident in their capability to repair, or had better things to do.

That's pretty much my suspicion. Oh well, at least I've got a handle on the problem. Will keep my eyes out for a new wheel in the future.

I would check with your local tire stores. They may not do it. but they may have a company that repairs the rims. I live in Austin Tx and the company I used was in Houston. They made two trips a week to Austin to pick up rims for repair.
Thanks Wayne

Not a bad idea, but at this point the problem is resolved and quite honestly, I'll bet I can probably find a new wheel at some point that's cheaper than having one reworked.

I mean hey, I drove on this bad wheel since I bought the car in 2017. Surely it can fill in as a spare without too much problem.